 | Around the year 395 AD, Marcus Aurelius Clemens wrote a Christmas hymn entitled Corde Natus ex parentis. Prudentius was a highly regarded Roman lawyer who served two governorships in Northern Spain until the Emperor called him to the Imperial City. In his later years Prudentius retired from public life to become an ascetic, fasting every day until supper. The choir will sing his hymn in its entirety during communion, and I hope you will sing with them, or at least listen attentively. You can find it on page 691 in the blue hymnals: Of the Father's love begotten, |
Prudentius was inspired by today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah: “A child is born to us, a son is given us, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful.” There will come a time when every earthly ruler submit to an Divine King, who is the Creator and Redeemer of all that exists. He alone is capable of ruling a vast and forever peaceful dominion. Again, from Prudentius’ hymn:
At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!
But this God-Hero and Prince of Peace is born into our race as a tender babe, in the City of David. He is a poor child, like the rest of us:
O that birth forever blessèd,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world's Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!
Bethlehem is Hebrew for “City of Bread.” His mother wrapped him in swaddling clothes, much like you wrap a warm dinner sandwich, and placed him in a manger (that’s French for “eating”). A manger is a box into which food is put for sheep and cattle. The Scriptures could not be clearer that this baby is food, for us: “Behold, I proclaim good news of great joy for all people: a savior has been born for you. And this will be a sign for you: an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” “O child,” wrote St. John Paul II, “who willed to have for your crib a manger, O Creator of the universe….” In our foodie culture, especially, nothing conveys joy and warmth like a hot meal. “You have brought them abundant joy,” we heard from Isaiah 9, “as they rejoice at the harvest.” We will never go hungry again, and the finest wine will this Messiah provide for our nuptial banquets. He does not merely purchase food for his lambs, but He Himself is the food of eternal life. In his Christmas homily last year, Pope Francis said that “Bethlehem alters the course of history. There God, in the house of bread, is born in a manger…‘Here I am, your food.’”
He is found in human fashion,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam's children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!
At every Mass we witness this sacrifice. God became man; He knew death and sorrow, so that Adam’s children “might not perish in the dreadful gulf below.” “You would have suffered eternal death,” wrote St. Augustine for his Christmas homily in the fourth century, “had he not been born into temporal life. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not himself taken on bodily weakness. You would have gone to hell, had he not come to earth.” And so, let us adore Him. Let us receive Him into our bodies as food, in the Holy Mass, in Eucharistic adoration, in faithfully building our homes and families as domestic churches. Let us never miss a Mass again, if we can help it, for without the Bread of Life, we die.
O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honour, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!
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