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85.1
First Point
The
Emperor Augustus having issued an edict ordering a census to be taken of
all the inhabitants of all the cities belonging to the Roman Empire, every
person was obliged to register in his native town. This made Saint Joseph
leave Nazareth, a city in Galilee where he lived, to go to Bethlehem, a
town in Judea, in order to register there with Mary, his wife.[i]
On arriving there, they looked for a house where they could stay, but
nobody was willing to accept them, because they were occupied by people
more wealthy, more distinguished than they.
See how the world acts! People consider only what is externally
apparent in persons, and pay respect to them only if they are attracted by
what fascinates the eyes of the world. If the people in Bethlehem had
looked upon Mary as the Mother of the Messiah, as the woman who would soon
bring forth for the world God made man, who would have dared to refuse to
lodge her in their home? What marks of respect would not all Judea have
paid her? But as they considered her only as an ordinary person and the
wife of a workingman, there was no part of a shelter for her.
For how long has Jesus been presenting himself to you and knocking
at the door of your heart, in order to make his dwelling within you and
you have not wanted to receive him. Why? Because he only presents
himself under the form of a poor man, a slave, a man of sorrows.[ii]
85.2
Second Point
The
Most Blessed Virgin, Mother of Jesus, not finding anyone willing to offer
her lodging in Bethlehem, was obliged to withdraw to a stable. While she
was there it happened that the time of her pregnancy was completed and
she brought forth her firstborn child into the world. This is why she
found it necessary to lay Jesus Christ, her Son, in a manger for a bed.[iii]
You often receive Jesus Christ in your heart, but is he not there
as though in a stable, finding there only dirt and corruption, because you
have affection for other things rather than for him. If you looked upon
him as your Savior and your Redeemer, what honor would you not pay him?
Would you not keep him company, regarding him as God by paying attention
to his holy presence, and regarding him as man by meditating on his
sufferings and his passion?
To find out whether you profit by the coming and dwelling in you
that Jesus desires very much, consider if you are more reserved, more
recollected, and better behaved than you are on other days. During
Communion days do you watch over yourselves more carefully in order not to
let yourselves give way to any ill humor or to any disorderly impulse?
If you wish to profit by the coming of Jesus Christ in you, you
must let him be the master of your heart, and make yourselves docile to
whatever he may require of you, often saying to him with the prophet
Samuel: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,[iv]
and with David: I will hear what the Lord God will say in me.[v]
85.3
Third Point
Since
we know that Jesus Christ is going to come into us today, and since we
recognize him for what he is, let us prepare for him a dwelling place
worthy of him, and let us dispose our hearts to receive him in such a way
that he may be pleased to make his home there! With this in view let us
apply ourselves to detach our hearts from all that is profane and earthly
in them. The earthly soul, says Saint Paul, speaks with
affection of the things of the earth, and does not know how to speak of
anything else.[vi]
But, the same apostle says, the heavenly person speaks of the things of
heaven and rises above everything else. It is for this purpose that
the Son of God has come to earth and wishes to come into our hearts, to
make us share in his nature[vii]
and help us become altogether heavenly men.
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The
Rule of the Brothers written in 1718 states that on this Vigil at 10:30
p.m. the Brothers will go to the oratory where a subject of meditation
will be read and afterwards they will go to the church to be there for the
beginning of Matins; they will make their prayer there until the time for
Mass, at which they will receive Holy Communion (CL 25:115). No doubt De
La Salle wrote this meditation for that occasion. It is a good example of
the Christocentric character of Lasallian spirituality, for the mystery of
the Incarnation is a key to the prayer of De La Salle. See also the
meditation for March 25.
[ii] Mt 25:44-45; Is 53:3
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