Thomas Griffin 12/25/24
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Let Us Begin: New Book on the Life and Power of St. Francis
“For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord” (Luke 2:11).
Some days are simply more special than others. Each day is a gift but we know that we mark particular days as uniquely important. Whether it is a birthday, wedding anniversary or Christmas day – they all commemorate historical facts that changed the direction of history.
There is truly no event on the calendar that is like the birth of Jesus Christ. It completely changed the trajectory of world history.
The Jewish people claim that God chose them to be uniquely His own and to save the world (see Genesis 22:18). God stepped into the lives of Abraham and his descendents to communicate that He desires to know us and save us on a personal level. Over the course of time, there are challenging epochs in their following of the Lord. Throughout this time, God made allusions to the fact that He was going to come and set the world right again.
In the Old Testament there are over 300 predictions of what the Messiah would accomplish. Here are some:
- Isaiah 7: born of a virgin
- Micah 5: born in Bethlehem
- Isaiah 35: give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, the deaf hear, raise the dead…
- Zechariah 9: ride into Jerusalem on a donkey as king
- Isaiah 52: be given stripes for our offenses, be killed and raised by God
These, and the hundreds of other prophecies, provide specific details regarding how God would come into the world and what He would accomplish. These specifics reveal that God cares about the details – God comes for the individual person in the specific moment that He finds them.
We can view this fact in the words of the angel to the shepherds above: a savior is born “for you.”
God acts to save all of humanity but His intention is to do so, person by person and face-to-face. Think about how special the shepherds must have felt at that moment. Consider what it would have been like to be told that God was being born among us and you were the first group to find out.
The grandeur of Christmas day resides in the fact that our individual salvation continues today. God came and was born of the Blessed Mother. Joseph laid eyes on him and so did the shepherds and the magi. They could look at him in the eyes and stare at the majesty of this moment in time. Just like parents today who are overjoyed at the birth of their child, Jesus’ birth happened at a specific moment for specific people. Celebrating Christmas with this in mind will allow us to be continually moved to meet Christ each December 25th and each and every single day.
Prayer is choosing to spend time with Jesus each day and simply looking at him. Personal prayer time in our homes that is committed each day allows us to see that God wants to know us personally and powerfully. Only when we keep this priority will we be able to receive the greatest blessings in prayer, just like the shepherds did.
What made the difference for the shepherds is that we are told that they were “keeping the night watch over their flock” (Luke 2:8). They were vigilantly looking over their sheep. The safety and protection of their flock was their livelihood so they were attuned to their surroundings in an unmatched way. Being distracted could cost them the life of a sheep. Distractions were not a part of their night watch because they knew the stakes were too high.
When we accept the invitation to pray, the stakes are also high. Christmas shows us that our faith is life or death. We needed to be saved from death. Without Jesus, we would not have life. God came specifically for you: to save you.
We are all in need of a savior because we are all broken. We hurt others. We sin. We don’t keep our promises and we don’t love as we ought. With the birth of Jesus that can all change for you.
The savior has come. So let us adore him each day in our prayer as he arrives to meet you – just like he did with the shepherds.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine. He is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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