When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
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Where is a dark place in your world where Jesus needs to enter anew?
Come closer to me, closer still, O Power of the Holy Trinity. Enter into my consciousness more deeply
than thoughts and emblems of the world can. In the same way as a wise mother, when she conceives, prepares and embellishes a cradle for her child, so prepare and embellish my mind for that which will be begotten from You, O Beauty and Purity.
Many evil thoughts lurk like serpents around the cradle of Your Son. And many wicked desires emerge from my heart and seek the cradle of Your Prince, to poison Him with their arrows.
Defend the cradle of my mind, and teach my soul how to give birth and care for an infant.
Shroud in deep darkness
the journey of all malevolent visitors coming to see my newborn son. And raise aloft a most radiant star
over the way of the Wise Men from the East, men who are truly wise,
because they are coming to visit my most precious child with three gifts— faith, hope, and love.
Come closer to me, still closer, my majestic Lord.
Nikolai Velimirovich 1881-1956 Serbian Orthodox monastic Prayers by the Lake, source, edited __________________________________
You became human, really human. While we endeavor to grow out of our humanity, to leave our human nature behind us, You became human, and we must recognize that You want us also to be human – really human. Whereas we distinguish between the godly and the godless, the good and the evil, the noble and the common, You love real human beings without distinction. . . . You take the side of real human beings and the real world against all their accusers. . . .
But it’s not enough to say that You take care of human beings. This sentence rests on something infinitely deeper and more impenetrable, namely, that in the conception and birth of Jesus Christ, You took on humanity in bodily fashion. You raised your love for human beings above every reproach of falsehood and doubt and uncertainty by yourself entering into the life of human beings as a human being, by bodily taking upon yourself and bearing the nature, essence, guilt, and suffering of human beings.
Out of love for human beings, You became a human being. You do not seek out the most perfect human being in order to unite with that person. Rather, You take on human nature as it is.
after Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906 – 1945 German Lutheran theologian and martyr
When waves of pain contort Mary’s body her face is cramped and pale Her eyes scuttle apart like crabs The waves pull, recede again
and attack more violently She clings to the wagon wheel, grits her teeth, and her screams terrify the beasts in the stable
Joseph, pacing nervously, stumbles and falls At last, seated, he strokes her back, grasps her hand; his strength flows into her
Then a tremendous power moves within Mary Like the sun emerging from a mountain ravine the infant’s head appears slowly, deliberately Joseph grips it in both hands
Now the baby’s cry flies out, rends the night Joseph’s doubts dissolve On the straw bed Mary peacefully shuts her eyes
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
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Imagine what the birth of Jesus was like for Mary and Joseph. How can you give thanks to God for the humble, beautiful birth of Jesus?
Hagia Sofia, Istanbul, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr
Come, O true Light!
Come, O eternal life! Come, O hidden mystery! Come, O indescribable treasure! Come, O powerful one, who always creates and re-creates and transforms by your will alone!
Come, you whom my wretched soul has desired and does desire! Come, you who alone go to the lonely for as you see I am lonely! Come, you who have separated me from everything and made me solitary in this world! Come, you who have become yourself desire in me, who have made me desire you, the absolutely inaccessible one!
Yea, O Master, just as you remembered me, when I was in the world and, in the midst of my ignorance, you chose me and separated me from this world and set me before your glorious face, so now keep me interiorly, by your dwelling within me, forever upright, resolute; that by perpetually seeing you, I, the corpse, may live; that by possessing you, I, the beggar, may always be rich, richer than kings; that by eating you and by drinking you, by putting you on at each moment, I go from delight to delight in inexpressible blessings.
Symeon the New Theologian 949–1022 Byzantine Orthodox monk source _______________________
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
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When have you experienced the presence and love of God most powerfully?
Remember some of those times in prayer and praise.
You are our eternal salvation, The unfailing light of the world. Light everlasting, You are truly our redemption. Grieving that the human race was perishing through the tempter’s power, without leaving the heights You came to the depths in your loving kindness. Readily taking our humanity by Your gracious will, You saved all earthly creatures, long since lost, Restoring joy to the world. Redeem our souls and bodies, O Christ, and so possess us as Your shining dwellings. By Your first coming, make us righteous; At your second coming, set us free: So that, when the world is filled with light and you judge all things, We may be clad in spotless robes and follow in Your steps, O King, Into the heavenly hall.
Thank you, Scandalous God, For giving yourself to the world, Not in the powerful and extraordinary, But in weakness and the familiar: In a baby; in bread and wine.
Thank you For offering, at journey’s end, a new beginning; For setting, in the poverty of a stable, The richest jewel of your love; For revealing, in a particular place, Your light for all nations.
Thank you For bringing us to Bethlehem, House of Bread, Where the empty are filled, And the filled are emptied; Where the poor find riches, And the rich recognize their poverty; Where all who kneel and hold out their hands Are unstintingly fed.
Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? _______________________________
Why do you think God chose the insignificant town of Bethlehem to be the birthplace of his only begotten son? How does the humble beginning of the Son of God relate to your own story?
Today I look into my own heart and all around me, and I sing the song of Mary.
My life praises the Lord my God, who is setting me free. He has remembered me, in my humiliation and distress! From now on, those who rejected and ignored me will see me and call me happy, because of the great things he is doing in my humble life. His name is completely different from the other names in this world; from one generation to another he was on the side of the oppressed. As on the day of the Exodus, he is stretching out his mighty arm to scatter the oppressors with all their evil plans. He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones and he has lifted up the despised; and so he will do today. He has filled the exploited with good things, And sent the exploiters away with empty hands; and so he will do today. His promise to our mothers and fathers remains new and fresh to this day. Therefore the hope for liberation which is burning in me will not be extinguished. He will remember me, here now and beyond the grave.
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.”
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How can you pray for God’s righteousness to reshape your neighborhood?
prayer & verse 
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