Reflecting on the Gospel stories over these days of Christmas and sitting quietly at the crib in the church led me to notice the action of listening as being at the heart of time of year.
At the Annunciation Mary listened to message of the Angel Gabriel…
At the Annunciation to Joseph…he listened to the message of his dream…
At the Visitation Mary heard the words of Elizabeth as the two women greeted each other…
The innkeeper heard Joseph’s plea for a place for them to stay for the night…
On the hillside outside Bethlehem the shepherds heard the angels’ song of joy…
While the Magi from the east listened…the star guided them to visit the Saviour…
Sitting at the crib and reading the scriptures asks of me what is the message being offered to me today…by these people before me…
It asks me how am I listening to the Gospel of Christmas…what are these words calling me to be in the world today?
The messages come to each of the characters of the Gospel from unexpected places…in unexpected ways…at moments when they are least expecting such an invitation…they come in the ordinary moments of their daily lives and yet ask them to go…to be…to change their own plans and desires for their lives to allow the Messiah to break into the world as God has planned.