The dawn Mass on Christmas day used to be referred to as the Shepherds’ Mass, because the Gospel reading narrates the visit of the shepherds to the newborn Jesus (Luke 2:15-20). These shepherds symbolize early on the people who have been transformed into believers and who in the midst of the hardships of life proclaim the glory to God.
Let’s go and see
Their livelihood is not everything; this is something different and really extraordinary, the shepherds must have thought after they heard the angel’s announcement to them of the good news that the Messiah and Lord has been born that day in the city of David. Pointedly, they were told by the angel of the particular sign by which they would recognize the newborn savior: an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The Lord one like them, needing swaddling clothes too and in their midst among the animals to be fed and looked after! The shepherds did not hesitate; they went in haste to see what the angel had made known to them. Invited to the happening of great joy to all the people, the shepherds responded in faith with alacrity.
The shepherds were the poor on the outskirts of Bethlehem and at the margins of society. Their means of livelihood required of them staying with the flocks in the hills, tending and protecting them. Seen as irreligious or untrustworthy, they could not be part of the normal community, whether in worship or in socialization. But they took the risk of leaving their flocks in search of a newborn baby. It would be a big loss, or the ire of the owners, should anything happen to the flocks while they were gone. But they were not deterred by such considerations. They felt they should go and see what the Lord has made known to them; they were responding to divine revelation and carrying out the heavenly directive explicitly given to them.
Glorifying God, reflecting
And the shepherds found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger. Their openness to God and willingness to listen and to follow what is proclaimed to them empowered them with the eyes of faith to see beyond appearances, recognizing their Messiah and Lord even in the unlikely situation, and enabling them to detect and encounter the divine in the ordinariness of life. They became convinced of the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah, and they in their simplicity of heart and in the outburst of their faith proclaimed to all they met the message about the child that had been told them. The shepherds became the first evangelizers, bearers of the good news, about the Messiah lying in a manger. And people were amazed by the strange narrative from the shepherds, who did not only place in jeopardy their responsibilities but also now put their future at risk by their incredible claims.
The shepherds returned to their flocks praising God. They had a rare religious experience; their lives would not be the same again, even if they had resumed the normal pattern of their existence. These humble, poor and probably uneducated shepherds took the divine invitation seriously and searched for their Lord. And they were transformed into believers and sharers of their faith, overflowing with joy and glorifying God. Their belief seemed unaffected by the reactions of others.
Alálaong bagá, the shepherds going in haste in search of the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger were the first to respond to the divine invitation to connect with the newborn Savior. They were willing to leave all for the sake of the child. They found what they were told to look for, and they became bearers of the good news and sharers of the faith. And in the midst of this extraordinary unfolding of what may be called the first public Christmas celebration of the mystery of the birth of Jesus Christ (as dramatized incidentally in the Spanish and Filipino folklore “Los Pastores”), the figure of Mary the mother of Jesus is quietly inserted by the evangelist in his narration. Reflecting in her heart on all that the shepherds were saying about the child, Mary who was the first to experience the power of God reminds us that respectful contemplation of the mystery of what God has done is essential for us in truly celebrating Christmas, under whatever circumstances.
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