Advent Meditations (continued)

So the world had no place in their rooms for Jesus that night he was born. The only people who knew or cared about Jesus was a troop of shepherds, young poor boys mostly, who already in the fields that night. Even they needed an angelic invitation. Even the wise men came afterward and looked in the wrong place first. They looked for the King of Heaven in a worldly palace in a big royal city. The surprise of where the royal child actually was born was like the contrast between finding him in Front Royal instead of Washigton D.C. And in a stable?

I once slept in a barn. It was partly to see if I could do it. Partly it was because the group leader had not planned on it being so cold that night. I had one blanket and no pillow. I did not sleep in a plie of straw, I slept on the the cold, hard wooden planks of the floor. Even with the barn door shut, it was so cold it was very difficult to fall asleep. It was a cold autumn night. As I laid there, trying to unclench my stiff, cold shoulders and find a comfortable position on the cold wooden floor, with the cold air coming right through the thin barn walls, my fingers trembled and my teeth chattered.
I could not help but think of poor mother Mary and St. Joseph and Baby Jesus. It was winter and they had to sleep in a stable. They probably did not have a lot of blankets and pillows. Baby Jesus was swaddled up and laid in a feeding trough. Poor mother Mary just slept in some straw on the cold ground, probably, with one blanket. She was probably just as cold and much more tired than I was that night. She probably awoke the next morning so stiff that she could barely move at first. Poor St. Joseph probably could not even get up his muscels were so sore.
Then, after the wisemen came and went, St. Joseph had to pack up the donkey and wake Mary up in the middle of the night and sneak out of Bethlehem by a hidden trail toward Egypt, avoiding the main roads. Why? Because the world had now discovered them, and the world was after the life of the Child. No sooner had the world discovered the importance of the obscure Galilean carpenter, and the ordinary teenaged girl and her baby, then they were in danger. An evil King tried to kill the Son of God who came into the world to save the world from its sins.

I have taught catechism to so many children. Some of them did not ever hear about that dark night, when Josephy packed up the donkey and stole out of the town with Mary and Jesus, looking over his shoulder watching for Herod's soldiers to come down the road and discover them. Jesus was not yet a year on this earth and already martyr's blood of innocent babies was being shed. Our Poor Blessed Lady was all the while, holding baby Jesus and running for His life, unable to fathom how anybody would want to kill her baby. And the women of Bethlehem wept for their children. Some eight or nine year olds have found out that tale and asked me, "Why did the King try to kill baby Jesus? Why did the soldiers obey the evil order of the evil King and kill all those one year old and two year old infants? Why did poor baby Jesus not even get to stay hidden in the manger bed?"

And some of the older children piped in, "The evil King wanted to be the only King, he was jealous." But the younger ones still shook their heads in confusion. I answered, "The Bible gives no explanation as to why King Herod was so determined to kill this infant that he slaughtered all of the male infants in Bathlehem up to the age of two. History knows that Herod was an evil murderer and a madman. But the truth, is, there is no explanation. There is never a true understandable explanation for that kind of evil. That is why we call it evil."

This Advent, now that Our Lord has shed his last drop of blood and saved the world, what will the spirit of world do this Advent. Hang up decorations and sell "X-mas" gifts before Thanksgiving and claim to do this for "Christmas", put up buffoonish images of a Catholic Saint, yell at people at WalMart on "Black Friday", say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" avoid putting up any Nativity sets or anything that reminds them of Christ. In this meaningless materialistic charade, do we let our doors open to Our Blessed Lady and Baby Jesus, or do we shut it in his face? Do we find the time to ask God therough prayer and vigilance to come into our hearts this Christmas season or do we "Not have room" for him and send him away? Are we like the shepherds who visited him in our poverty, or like the wise men who gave him gifts of our wealth and give Him supreme honor, or like the angels who sing and give glory to him, like St. Joseph who was so strong for Christ, or like our Lady who trusted God in everything and loved Him best? Or are we like the rest of the people who ignored him or like the evil King and his soldiers who are murdering our brothers and sisters and their children? Are the innocent not being slaughtered around us? God help us and have mercy on us and on the whole world.