Welcome my brothers and sisters in Christ to today’s celebration of the Holy Mass on the last Sunday of the year. This last Sunday of the year 2008, we celebrate the Solemnity of Humble Shepherds.
During today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, we heard the words of the shepherds who said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”
How many times have we Catholics repeated similar words? How many times have we said, “Let us go to the Church to hear the Word of God which has been made known to us.”
As the shepherds went to Bethlehem to adore Jesus in His physical body, you faithful believers come to Church to adore Jesus Who is physically present in the Sacred Tabernacle.
Your acts of adoration are a continuation of the footsteps of the shepherds. Your children shall continue in these footsteps. And so will their children and their grand-children, etc… all for the glory of God.
When the shepherds returned, they glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen, as it has been told them. They glorified and praised God for the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament, believing that through Jesus, the promised Messiah had finally arrived.
We so have much to glorify and praise God for. We praise and glorify God because we now know beyond any doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. He fulfilled the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that were made regarding His coming. He died for us. On the third day, He resurrected. He sent His Spirit to teach and guide us. He instituted the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church for our spiritual well-being. He gave us the Sacraments to feed our spiritual lives and to maintain our righteousness.
What the shepherds faithfully hoped for, looking back in time, we now know that their hopes have been fulfilled.
As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us be thankful to God for having revealed His many mysteries to us, the example of the Mother of God, His incarnation through Jesus, the wealth of spiritual blessings that are found in the Holy Church and the endless blessings that we received throughout our lives, some that we have seen, others that passed us without notice.
Let us always be thankful to the Lord God who holds our lives in His hand.