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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260103
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UID:14439-1767398400-1767484799@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Christmas Weekday
DESCRIPTION:TO SEEK AND DISCOVER \nFrom the book “Jesus Christ” by Fr Réné Voillaume \n◊◊◊ \nJesus appears in the world without giving any warning of his coming and \nwithout making known to any neighbor who he is. Had he come into the world \nin his house at Nazareth\, all his relatives would have made an event of his birth \nwith the neighbors and the other inhabitants of the town. He would have been \nheralded and celebrated. He would thus have allowed himself to behave well \nenough like a true little Nazarene\, but he would have been confiscated\, as it \nwere\, by his earthly family and his earthly country. \nQuite to the contrary\, he elects to be born away from home\, on a journey\, \namid an anonymous crowd; in this way\, he would really belong to everybody\, \nand could come quietly and discreetly\, with no tumult and excitement. God\, if \nhe had so wished\, could naturally have made all sorts of efforts to spread the \nnews abroad. And if any proof were needed of this\, one could point to his having \nmobilized the angels but contented himself with bringing a few poor shepherds \nto the manger. It is also clear from this that he could easily have brought the \nwhole of Jerusalem and all the just among the Israelites with pure and upright \nhearts\, worshipers of God and living in expectancy of the Messiah. And there \nwere in fact many of them\, all true friends of his\, in the country of Judea and \nGalilee! \nBut it is obvious that God did not wish to impose his Son: people must \ncome to him by seeking and discovering him. Even the shepherds and the Wise \nMen\, though warned personally\, had to search for him with the help of a sign \nwhich\, rather than leading them easily and directly to the manger\, was little \nmore than a suggestion to send them on their way. The shepherds must have \ngone to many houses and stables before they found the right babe wrapped in \nswaddling clothes. \nAs for the Magi\, they had to show some initiative in order to discover\, by \nthe normal means at their disposal\, the birthplace of the young king of Israel. \nJesus was infinitely discreet; he simply waited\, and such a way of appearing \ncould have made us somewhat impatient\, had it not been proved for centuries \nback that people have found in this very discretion a true sign of God. \nThat sign of weakness\, which draws people in spite of themselves\, makes \nthem surrender and acknowledge themselves outdone\, without Jesus ever \nhaving forced himself upon them in any way other than a certain presence — a \npresence that waits\, and invites\, and demonstrates God’s heaven in a humble \nmanner which gives hope and humility\, peace and love — just how\, one does not \nreally know! God is a master who knows how to go about speaking to us with the \nuse of the things of the earth — these various beings\, both animate and \ninanimate — and the events of human history.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-christmas-weekday-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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