In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“This will be a sign for you: you will find an infant lying in a manger.” That is what the angel told the shepherds.

God has a disconcerting way of acting. He uses simplicity, silence and signs. He is not evident. There is no more disconcerting way to enter the world than the way He chose, to appear to us in a very modest and weak form.

God asked a young girl from an unknown village with no more than 200 inhabitants to become the mother of the Savior. Then Jesus was born in a hidden cave. As witnesses to all of this, he chose shepherds! At the time, they were not well thought of by the people of Israel. For example, they could not to be witnesses in a trial.

We would like everything to be clearer. We would like something more visible. We would like more organization in this birth. We would like better conditions. We would like everybody to be well informed about what happened. We would like the media to broadcast the event directly. We would like to hear sentimental declarations by Mary and Joseph about the birth. We would like the shepherds to have told us what they were feeling when they saw Jesus for the first time. We would like everything to be a TV show where we could be spectators.

“This will be a sign for you: you will find an infant lying in a manger.”

The most extraordinary sign of the presence of God was a baby, a weak, newborn baby. 

It was not immediately evident that the baby was the Savior, the King of the Universe. Only Mary, Joseph and the shepherds could recognize their Lord in the Baby Jesus.

The biggest signs of God’s presence are always very simple and meager. In the Eucharist, He is really present in the bread and wine. 

Why does God use signs and not evidence? It is because He does not want spectators—he wants actors. He does not want us in the audience but on the stage. He needs our decision and free participation.

A sign needs to be interpreted. A sign always invites us to think about what is behind and beyond it. To see what is behind and beyond a sign requires a simple heart. To recognize that a newborn baby is God, we need to have the same simplicity as the shepherds.

God uses simple signs because He loves and respects us. He wants to share his love and life with us. When someone loves another, he sends signs and waits for an interpretation, a response. This is the same thing that God is doing with us.

“This will be a sign for you: you will find an infant lying in a manger.”

For over 2,000 years, Jesus has been present in the world. We have a long history of his presence among us. 

We are not lacking in signs. What we need is the same simplicity of heart that Mary, Joseph and the shepherds had.

O Baby Jesus, give us a simple and humble heart that can see the magnificent gift of your presence in the banality of the signs that you send us! Give us the same grace that you gave the shepherds to see Heaven’s glory through earthly signs! O Baby Jesus, give us the same grace that you gave to Mary and Joseph: to love you above all else!

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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