In today's Gospel, our Lord teaches us why we should be grateful for the Incarnation,
and indeed when he says,
Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, did not hear it.
He goes back, way back, to the time of Adam and Eve,
for it was first revealed to them that the Messiah would come into the world.
And so, to all the patriarchs and prophets and all the kings whom our Lord speaks of today,
they were saved by one thing.
They were saved because in some way it was revealed to them,
and they came to believe in the Messiah was to come.
And in the first part of today's Gospel,
he speaks of those who are saved and how they are saved after the Messiah comes.
For we are saved in accord to how we respond to what the Messiah did.
And so, our Lord tells us that all things have been handed over to him by his Father.
Indeed, this is most true for the Father in creating us,
now hands things all over to the Son who recreates us in his Incarnation,
and by purging us from his sacrifice,
and by purging us on Calvary.
And so, all things that fell in Adam and Eve in the original creation of God the Father
are now created, recapitulated, re-headed under the new Adam that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And so, he has done all things wonderfully for us,
and indeed, he has reclaimed the whole of the Father's creation.
For in the fall of Adam and Eve, our Lord is pointing out all things fell,
human souls, and even all the things
of the earth.
And it will be under the influence of the grace of the Holy Spirit in the new kingdom
that all things will be reclaimed in Christ for the Father himself.
And so, our Lord tells us that he very clearly rejoices
because the disciples will do what they formerly could not do.
He will give to them the graces to be the leaders of the church,
and it is the virtue of humility by which they will particularly carry out the task of Christ.
And so,
even though
we are weak,
even though we are fallen,
we have reason to hope because
we are strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
And if we only humble ourselves constantly begging
God for his graces in order to do all things well,
then we will come to know the true mystery of the incarnation because
we will come to know the mystery of the church in all its depth
and in all its profundity
that we receive from Holy Mother Church
all the graces that Christ intends
to give to the world.
And indeed,
the world is sanctified in so far
and in accord with how it responds to the grace of the church
and especially regarding the Vicar of Christ
and how he tells the world that it must proceed.
And so,
we clearly believe in the Catholic Church
that everyone is subject to the Vicar of Christ
and it matters not whether they are incorporated into the mystical body of Christ,
for to him has been entrusted
the mysteries of the church,
that is, the sacraments.
And so,
our Lord wishes to strengthen us
but he can only do so if we are humble.
We can only be reclaimed,
renewed in Christ
if we exercise the virtue of humility,
that is,
that virtue by which we recognize our faults and our failings
and our sins
and in our weakness and in our pride,
we humbly bend our knees and beg the Lord
for his forgiveness
and for his grace to persevere
in the Christian life,
the life of virtue.
And so,
in today's first reading,
we read that the Spirit of the Lord
was upon the Messiah
and indeed is related to us
the gifts of the Holy Spirit
which gifts are given to each and every one of us
in order to facilitate us
in the practice of the virtues.
And so,
let us rejoice at the wonderful things
the Lord has done for us,
that he truly has reclaimed
all of the Father's creation
in himself
and all of creation is lifted up
if we conform ourselves to Christ
and most especially to Christ crucified.
For his love for the Father burns most brightly
when his love also is manifested for us,
that is,
the sacrifice he will make on Calvary
and that is why Christmas is such a joyful season.
For in the incarnation
and in the birth of our Lord and Savior
in the cave at Bethlehem,
we truly rejoice,
for we know now the lamb,
the sacrifice of God the Father is present
and that love will burn most brightly
when the child in the cave at Bethlehem
is offered up publicly
for all to see on the cross at Calvary.
It is the same Christ,
the same child,
who is always doing the work of the Father,
always reclaiming the creation of the Father
and now he does so until the end of time
through Holy Mother Church
and that is one of the reasons,
one of the reasons why the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary
is present to us at all times
because it is perpetually offered
until the end of time
during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
But we also see in the mystery of the Church
that the whole Christ is contained.
The graces we receive from the sacrifice
are the graces necessary to live the life of Christ,
to live the life of Christ at Bethlehem,
to live the life of Christ at Nazareth,
to live the life of Christ in his public ministry,
to always live the life of Christ.
That is the purpose why our Lord
sacrificed himself on Calvary
and so it is primarily why he spent so many years
in the home at Nazareth
in order to teach us all
how we are to go about this world
in the ordinary things,
that is, humbly submitting ourselves,
doing the ordinary tasks that we are required,
but for doing them for the same manner
that our Lord did them,
out of love for the Virgin Mother of God,
for in receiving her love
we will always receive the Christ.
And so let us truly rejoice
as we head forward during this Advent season
preparing to rejoice at the mystery
of the Incarnation,
the mystery of our salvation,
the mystery of the love of the Blessed Trinity,
that particular love that he has
for each and every one of us
and that general love
that he has for all humanity,
that love that burns so bright in the Father
that he would send forth his Son,
first born in the cave,
first conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
brought forth in the cave at Bethlehem
and shown burning most brightly in his love
on the cross at Calvary.
And so we truly have much to rejoice
in this Christmas season,
for in Christmas all the mysteries of Christ
are present and so we truly have reason to rejoice,
for he has done all things
well and he has received
all things from his Father
and unless we incorporate ourselves
truly and authentically
into the mystery of Christ's love
that is the mystery of the Church
then we cannot have eternal salvation
and we cannot have the love of the Blessed Trinity
for all eternity.
And so let us strive
like the disciples our Lord praises today
to humbly submit ourselves
so that we will have all those mysteries of our faith,
those hidden mysteries,
revealed to us by the Holy Spirit
and we will constantly be growing
in the love of God
and in the love of our neighbor
and hence doing the works of Christ
so that we ultimately can receive
receive the love of Christ
for all eternity in heaven.
Amen.