Chapter II (2)

The Israelites in his day had been conquered by the Madianites and Amalekites, who were overrunning their land with a countless army, and destroying all they could not carry off. The Chosen People were reduced to a state of slavery and starvation. So they repented of their idolatry, and called upon the Lord for pardon and mercy. God sent them a savior in the person of the faithful Gedeon. This hero, encouraged by miracles, which he had seen, destroyed the altar and the grove of Baal, and then gathered together 32,000 men, trusting in God that with this small force he could defeat the vast number of the foes. But God told him his followers were too many; if they conquered, they would attribute the victory to their own prowess. He bade him choose only 300 of them, and promised Gedeon that with these alone he would gain a complete victory.

Now notice how this was accomplished; it was by means apparently most rash and foolish. The Scripture narrates it thus: “Gedeon divided the 300 men into three parts, and gave them trumpets in their hands, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said to them: I will go into one part of the camp, and _do you as I shall do_. When the trumpet shall sound, in my hand, blow you also the trumpets on every side of the camp.—They began to sound their trumpets, and clap the pitchers one against another—And they cried out, The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon—And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp and they killed one another” (Judges vii, 16-22).

The immense army of the foe was destroyed, and the country delivered by the 300 unarmed men. These had simply done what they saw their leader do, and God had done the rest. Christ is our Gedeon; we must simply do what He did, and God will do the rest: He will establish His Kingdom in our hearts, and by us, no matter how weak the instruments, effect the salvation of souls.

THIRD MEDITATION
On the Birth of Christ

_1st Prelude._ Recall the facts to mind, by reading St. Luke i, 1-20.

_2nd Prelude._ See the stable, with the Divine Infant lying on the straw in the manger, with Mary and Joseph kneeling in adoration.

_3rd Prelude._ Ask to understand how Christ has loved you, that you may love Him ardently and follow Him faithfully.

_POINT I._ Consider how Mary and Joseph received the order to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled there. Notice the persons, their words and their actions.

1. _The pagan emperor_ who ordered the census, no matter what was his motive, was an agent of Divine Providence to bring the Holy Family to Bethlehem. His order had been issued three years before; it arrived at Nazareth just at the right time for God’s purposes.

2. _St. Joseph_ brings it home, knowing what inconvenience it would cause, but resigned to God’s will.

3. _Mary_, though she sees it comes at a most inopportune time, as far as man can judge, has only words and thoughts of cheerful submission to the voice of authority. Both prepare at once for the journey, and start as soon as possible.

_POINT II._ _See the Holy Family arriving in Bethlehem._ They have traveled five days, over 110 miles, Mary perhaps riding on an ass or in a rude cart, and Joseph leading the animal. Both now are dust begrimed and tired out, glad to get at last to the one inn of the town; but they are disappointed and find no room there to receive them. Follow them in imagination as they wander through the poorer streets, asking here and there for a night’s lodging, but refused at every door. Here now are the holiest persons that ever trod the earth, and see how the Lord allows them to suffer for our example of patience. And the Divine Child, how helpless: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (St. John i, 11). Happy they, if any such there were, who spoke a kind word to them, even a word of excuse for a refusal; it must have brought a blessing. Do I always speak kindly to the poor? Do I render every service I can? God willed it all, that Jesus might be born in a stable, rather than in a comfortable cottage; laid on straw, rather than on a cushion. Our edification is all the greater on Christmas day. But their lot was hard. So too our sufferings shall be turned into joy.

_POINT III._ _Behold the stable_, in which they have found a refuge. Cattle were there before them, and the floor is littered with their leavings. Mary and Joseph patiently tidy up a spot where they may rest, and collect the cleanest blades of straw to lay them in the manger, provident for the expected birth of the Divine Child.

There, during the night, Mary is miraculously delivered, and in an ecstasy of love and joy, presses the Son of God to her maternal breast. She tenderly wraps Him in the swaddling clothes she has brought along for the purpose, and reposes Him upon the straw of the manger, that she and Joseph may kneel before Him in humble adoration. Angels are there of course to honor the King of glory; but they appear not to the sight nor charm the ear with their Heavenly song, that all may be as desolate as possible. He came to share our poverty and our loneliness.

Meanwhile His glory is beginning to be manifested elsewhere. For a bright angel announces to the shepherds the birth of a “Saviour, who is Christ the Lord in the city of David,” and he adds: “This shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will” (St. Luke ii, 11-14).

He who came to assume our poverty made the poor His favorites; to them He was first revealed. If we wish to enjoy His favors, let us be satisfied with little, study rather with how little we can get along than how much we can acquire. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (St. Matth. v, 3).

The closest followers of Christ are known by their resemblance to Him. And how is He known? The Angel has proclaimed it: by His poverty: “And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.”

_Colloquy_ with the Divine Infant, loving Him, thanking Him, begging for the spirit of poverty, humility; and with Mary and Joseph, begging of them to obtain for me these precious dispositions.

THE FIFTH DAY

THE FIRST MEDITATION
On the Flight into Egypt

_1st Prelude._ Recall the facts, as narrated by St. Matthew ii, 13-19.

_2nd Prelude._ See St. Joseph quietly asleep in the night, and the Angel standing before him to deliver his message.

_3rd Prelude._ Ask the grace to understand the lessons taught in this mystery by Jesus, Mary and Joseph, so as to know your King more intimately, love Him more ardently and follow Him more faithfully.

_Point I._ _Consider the message of the Angel_, noticing particularly the persons, their words and their actions.

1. _The persons._ The Angel is a faithful messenger, a model of exactitude when a task is entrusted to us. He addresses Joseph because he is the head of the family. So God usually directs us through our superiors, even if these should be less able, even as Joseph was less gifted than the others. Jesus and Mary are not visited: “Take the child and his mother.”

2. Consider the _words_ spoken: “Arise and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee; for it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.” The action required implies many great difficulties; first a very long journey of hundreds of miles, and that through a wild country, where savage animals and robbers roamed. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that robbers infested those regions, and the watch kept by the shepherds points to the presence of wolves, bears, etc. Then they are to leave at once, with no provisions for so long a journey: “Arise, and take, etc.” They are not even to say a kind farewell to the neighbors who had befriended them, but must leave in secret like criminals. And the motive assigned by the Angel is unsatisfactory to human reason: “Herod will seek the child to destroy him.” Were there not a thousand easier ways to prevent this? Was not God wise and powerful enough to save His Divine Son in Bethlehem? Or could they not have gone to Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, where young John the Baptist was living in security? Perhaps we might have been self-opiniated enough to find such objections; but Jesus, Mary and Joseph did not criticize.

3. _The Actions_ of these exhibit a prompt, cheerful and perfect obedience. These are our models. Have we always acted thus? Is it our habit now to do so?

_POINT II._ _Consider the exile itself._ How the Holy Family was supported during the many weeks their travel must have lasted, we cannot imagine. They may have suffered many severe hardships; most probably they did, since Christ had come to give the example of patience under sufferings. But God’s Providence watched over every step of theirs, and supplied all their wants as far as was conformable to His designs.

He did not do so only on account of their privileged personalities, but He ever does the same for all who trust in Him. “I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on—for after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek you therefore first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you” (St. Matth. vi, 25-33).

We can especially trust in God’s assistance when we are obeying His commands, as was the Holy Family at that time. Therefore we should love to be directed by our superiors, who make known God’s will to us. And again, works done under obedience with a willing mind have a special blessing on them. “An obedient man shall speak of victory” (Prov. xxi, 28). The heroic virtues practised in later ages by the solitaries in those deserts may well have been the fruit of the obedience then practised by the Holy Family.

Their stay in Egypt for several years among strangers is best appreciated by those persons who have themselves experienced the bitterness of exile. Christ knew that many of His followers would endure those ills, and He wished to leave them a most consoling example.

_POINT III. Consider the massacre of the Innocents._ All its cruelty was meant for Christ, and cruel persecution has been continued against His followers throughout the ages, and is so to the present day. He had foretold it: “The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his lord. If they have called the good-man of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household” (St. Matth. x, 24-25). We must then be patient under any kind of molestation, though of course we may use all honest means to prevent it.

The persecution works the good of them who properly endure it. See this exemplified in the massacre of the innocents. It was very wickedly done, a cruel injustice and bitter suffering to the little ones, and a still more dreadful affliction to their mothers; but it resulted in eternal glory for the children. When a priest blesses an article of devotion, he makes a cross over it; so the Lord bestows His blessings with a cross. Every sorrow comes from the hand of our loving Lord, and is meant for the good of those who love Him: “To them that love God all things work together unto good” (Rom. viii, 28).

_Colloquy._ With Jesus and Mary, begging for constant fidelity in the imitation of my Divine Model amid all trials, with a firm confidence in His loving providence: “Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded” (Ecclus. ii, 11).

THE SECOND MEDITATION
On the Private Life of Christ

_1st Prelude._ Recall the few verses in which Holy Writ records the history of the eighteen years of Christ’s private life, from His loss in the temple to His entrance on His public life: “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men” (St. Luke ii, 51-52), “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (St. Matth. xiii, 55).

_2nd Prelude._ Imagine you see the modest cottage of the Holy Family at Nazareth, where Mary is preparing a meal, while Joseph and the youthful Saviour are working in the adjacent carpenter shop.

_3rd Prelude._ Ask grace to understand the wonderful lessons of sanctity here taught, and to grow in the love and imitation of your Redeemer.

_POINT I._ Consider the words: “_He went down with them and came to Nazareth._” He might have moved in the midst of the world, as He had done for three days when lost in Jerusalem, but He wished to give an example which people generally could imitate. Nearly all persons must lead a private life during the greater portion, if not the whole of their career. Restlessness to be abroad is very injurious to virtue. But the inner life, needed to attain perfection, is favored by retirement from the world. Hence all founders of religious orders require a retired novitiate, and the Church strictly prescribes enclosure, which law has not been relaxed except where charity to the neighbor demands it. It is not the spirit of God that makes some priests aspire to conspicuous offices and functions. Nazareth was good enough for Christ, though it was so obscure a town that Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (St. John i, 46). It is a bad sign when a religious is displeased because applied to obscure duties.

_POINT II._ Consider the words, “_And He was subject to them_”; that is, Jesus was subject to Mary and Joseph. This is the chief lesson Christ chose to teach the world during the first thirty years of His life. It must then be of the utmost importance. St. Gregory says of it: “Obedience is a virtue which, by itself alone, plants all other virtues in the mind and preserves them after they are once planted” (L. 35 Mor. c. 10). St. Ignatius, in his “Epistle on Obedience,” quoted these words with emphatic approbation; and he has made this the characteristic virtue of his Society. In fact the vow of obedience belongs to the essence of the religious life, and some orders comprise all the obligation of their members under the one vow of “obedience according to their rule.” My perfection as a religious depends chiefly on the perfection of my obedience.

Consider besides, in meditating on Christ’s private life, who was the Person that obeyed; namely God Himself in His human nature. Whom did He obey? His own creatures infinitely beneath Him in every respect. In what did He obey?

In all the details of His life; in working for instance, under the direction of Joseph, after the unskilful manner of that time. How perfectly do I obey my superiors? I must make myself like unto Christ, not in working miracles, but in submitting to my superiors.

_POINT III. Christ spent His private life in humble labor._ Such a career is intended by the Lord for the vast majority of mankind. It is the sentence pronounced upon our race: “In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken” (Gen. iii, 19). Such labor fosters devotion. It has always been fondly cherished in learned religious bodies. During his voyage to India which lasted thirteen months, St. Francis Xavier used to wash his soiled linen in the sight of his fellow-passengers, while bearing the dignity of Apostolic Nuncio, and he would never consent to be waited on by others (Life, Bartholi and Maffei, p. 74).

_POINT IV._ “_And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men._” It is by the faithful and steady exercise of the virtues taught by our Divine model that Christians ever grow in sanctity; for sanctity consists in this. And thus there are thousands to-day, as in every period of the Church, of whom it can be said with truth, as is here said of the Blessed Saviour, that they are growing in wisdom as they are advancing in age; and as a consequence they grow in grace with God; and meanwhile they also become daily more perfect subjects of edification to their fellow-men.

That young religious are expected to resemble Christ in steady progress in virtue is of course understood by all. But this should not be confined to young religious. Older religious must persevere in this imitation of Christ; their own welfare requires it, and the welfare of the younger generation, who are naturally much influenced by the example of their elders. All who profess to follow Christ should therefore grow constantly in wisdom and obedience, in humility and generosity, in charity and devotion, and in all the virtues, of which He has given such bright examples.

_Colloquy_ with our Divine Lord, asking earnestly that we may know Him more intimately, love Him more ardently and follow Him more faithfully; and that we may correct the faults we have discovered in us during this meditation.

CONSIDERATION
On the Imitation of Christ’s Private Life

Since most of our progress in virtue is to be effected by our imitation of Christ’s private life, it is worth while adding to the meditation we have made on that subject some further appropriate considerations. Let us examine in what exactly lay the excellence of that great model.