My dear brothers and sisters,
Today we celebrate New Years Day and the Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds. Today we remember in the Holy liturgy the first guests who visited Baby Jesus in the manger.
In today’s Gospel Luke describes the simple scene in the manger at Bethlehem. We see a man, a woman who has just given birth, and baby Jesus lying in the manger. This little child is the Son of God and that young woman is the Mother of God. God came to this world as a child to bring salvation to all people on earth. This is the great mystery of the Incarnation which we celebrate every Christmas and throughout the Christmas season which lasts through the new year.
The first visitors in the manger were the shepherds, who took care for their flock around Bethlehem. We are not sure whether those shepherds really understood the message given by the angels that a Savior is born. But they obeyed the voice and went in search of the child born to bring peace to the world. They find the family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph and they worshiped Jesus as a God. After that they went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
They also told everyone around of what they had seen: the shepherds were the very first heralds of the Good News, the Gospel message. They were the first missionaries who proclaim the word of God. The shepherds may not have understood a great deal of this mystery but they accepted this in their simplicity and faith.
My dear brothers and sisters, we need the simple and trusting faith of the shepherds.
Luke tells us that all who heard what the shepherds had to say were amazed because nothing about the message made sense. They were providing something unheard of. But they gave a message of something new and wonderful making people wonder about their words. The extraordinary has occurred in and through the ordinary.
Luke tells us that Mary ponders, considers and gives careful thought to the message of the shepherds.
The Nativity scene attracts humble shepherds, a reminder that the rich and mighty hold no special favor in God’s eyes when it comes to the spiritual realm. Likewise we can’t forget the humble and needy among us. The Christmas season reminds us that Our Lord lives in the humblest of places even today: in the poor, in the forgotten, in the abandoned.
A complete Christian life includes besides our beliefs, the works of charity.
Today, we are starting a new day and a new year with Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Humble Shepherds. We greet each other with the same blessing as in the first reading of today: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace.”
May the peace of the Lord remain within us, our families and communities and bring us the joy and happiness in the year to come. The divine name appears in the Blessing, giving life and warmth. May the graciousness of God remain with each one of us throughout the New Year.