Merry Christmas! Jesus is born!

Saint Augustine once said, "Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature."  That, perhaps, is the best summation one can give of what happened in the wee hours of the morning in Bethlehem, in a stable made of cold rock and filled with dirty animals. 

A young woman, only fourteen or so years old, was giving birth to a child who would change the world, despite not having relations with a man.  The man next to her was older, and had thought to quietly divorce her when he had heard she was with child.  He could have had her stoned to death, but he was not vengeful, but a humble and quiet carpenter.  Can you imagine how he found out, when he intended to divorce her?  Did a friend perhaps gently broach the subject, "Joseph, there's something you need to know about your betrothed"?

What did the "silent saint" think?  Did he stare at her as he worked his carpentry jobs, had his heart been broken?  Either way, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him not to divorce her.  He obeyed.  He humbled himself and became a stepfather to the child she bore.  And so it came to pass that a King above kings would be born in filth, surrounded by animals, and his first visitors would be among the lowest of peoples, shepherds.  Long before the wise men would come from the East with their expensive and highly symbolic gifts, a group of dirty men came in from the fields to pay homage to the child who would redeem the world.

In our society, we like to say that Christmas is about a number of things.  However, it is not about giving, it is not about gifts, and it is not about family.  It is about a child who was born to save the world because his mother said yes to an angelic proclamation and because his stepfather likewise humbled himself before an angel of the Lord.

(This post should be posted at midnight while I'm still at Mass.)