The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)
At every Mass, at the ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ our prayer reminds us that the angels, so many angels, are always singing the praises of God, and that in that moment we are uniting our voices with theirs! So too, at Christmas we begin anew to sing the ‘Glory to God in the highest’ and in this Gospel we are reminded that in those words of prayer, we are singing the song of the angels, which was first heard on the night that Christ was born for us. This prayer offers glory to God in heaven, and asks God for a particular grace for us on earth.
For those on earth, the angels ask for the gift of peace. And they ask it for “those on whom His favor rests.” Now God makes His grace available to all, so how do we allow that grace and favor to rest upon us? How do we let the goodness of God’s will permeate our hearts and set us at peace? Today, we turn to Christ born for us. We set our eyes upon that peace incarnate who longs to look upon us with human eyes. We turn our hearts to God who has made Himself small so as to love us with the tender, innocent heart of an infant. We contemplate how peace comes to us as one of us, and we ask for the grace to love and follow and become more and more like Christ whom we contemplate.