December 25 |
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Luke 2:1-14 (Christmas Midnight) 15-20 (Christmas Dawn) |
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| Background: This section of the Gospel of Luke shows what a master storyteller the author is. Here we have a story that both captures our imaginations and is filled with theological implications. Though some of his historical facts are incorrect, the author wants to make the point that this is the long awaited Messiah. Caesar Augustus was considered the bringer of peace just as this baby will be. The parents must go to Bethlehem, the city of David, the shepherd king, where people expect the Messiah to appear. The baby is laid in a manger, a feeding trough, and will be food for all. He is visited by shepherds who have heard an angel song that echoes Is. 9:6. And Mary ponders all these things as an example of a person of faith. |
read the padre |
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Story: This is the story of a little shepherd girl. Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the hill country around Bethlehem, there was a shepherd family with five sons and one daughter, Rachel. The sons would take turns going with their father to keep watch over the sheep while Rachel stayed home and helped her mother. Rachel often begged her father to let her go with him; but her brothers laughed at her. "How could a girl do the work of men?" they asked, even though none of them were really men. The father and mother, more gentle with their daughter, would point out that she was needed at home to help her mother with the chores. Still, Rachel dreamed of how wonderful it would be to search for lost sheep and to sleep out under the stars. Then one chilly, for Bethlehem, evening, the five brothers all became ill. They had grown very thirsty the previous evening and drank water from a well their father had warned them to avoid. Rachel begged her father to let her go with him. The father reluctantly agreed, knowing he needed someone to keep an eye on a new lamb whose mother had died after giving birth. So Rachel, dressed in her brother's clothes so the other shepherds would not know she was a girl, went with her father. At first Rachel was all excited with her new role. When clouds covered the little sliver of moon that gave the area some light and the sounds of night grew louder, she quickly lost her excitement. Still she knew she had an important job keeping the new lamb warm and safe. As the night progressed, it was hard to say whether Rachel was taking care of the lamb or the lamb was taking care of Rachel. Whenever Rachel would doze off, the lamb would nudge her and she would wake with a start. All of a sudden, it wasn't the lamb that woke her but the sound of beautiful music. Rachel was sure it was a dream when she heard the music and saw the angels and then heard their message. And when her father came and said they were all going to see this wonderful sight, she was sure it was a dream. Her father would never leave the sheep. Since it was only a dream, she decided, she could go, too. So she picked up her newborn lamb and followed the men and boys as they hurried to the stable. Once they arrived, the men and boys all crowded around the entrance to the cave and fell to their knees. Rachel followed suit though, being small and in the rear, she didn't know what they saw. Suddenly, the lamb squirmed out of her arms and ran forward into the cave. Rachel plunged through the crowd after her charge. And there she saw a sight she would tell her children and grandchildren about over and over again: A lovely young mother down on her knees showing her infant son the infant lamb and the lamb and baby seeming like they were in conversation. At that, her father touched her shoulder and said, "Come, Rachel, we must go back to our sheep. You may leave your lamb as our gift for this wonder child." Then Rachel knew it wasn't a dream. Though her father told the family about the wonderful sight they had seen, neither he nor Rachel mentioned leaving the lamb with the baby. |
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