What, then, will this child be?

23 DECEMBER (Lk 1,57-66)

Meditating these days on the mystery of Christmas, the infinite greatness of the mercy of God, his eternal patience, his love that never fails, his light that always shines in our darkness, his perennial desire of salvation, but especially his divine omnipotence creator of a new history; appear with all evidence. Who meditates and contemplates the mystery that is celebrated in these days, must necessarily confess that everything is from the indefatigable charity of God, everything is from his renewing and sanctifying presence in our lives.

“Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say, “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.” Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth (Psalm 124 (123) 1-8).

This presence of God begins at the very moment of man’s sin, when due to foolish and insane pride man let himself be tempted by the lie of the serpent.

Then the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” (Gen 3,14-15).

From this moment on the Lord our God picks up our history to bring it back into its truth, rather to give it an even greater and more sublime truth. The former mystery fades before the latter mystery. Formerly, we were from God in his image and likeness. Now we are in God, made partakers of his divine nature. Formerly, we were out of Him by creation. Now we are in Him by regeneration. Formerly, we were creatures of God, now we are his true children of adoption. However, this great mystery is not accomplished without men. The mystery of Christmas is both of God and man, of the work of God and man. It is the mystery man, but created by God in man. The Virgin Mary was made entirely by God in order to be taken to participate in the mystery of the birth of his Only Son from her virginal womb. Even John the Baptist is entirely the work of God. It is the Spirit who assumed him and trained him according to the needs of the mystery that he should have been accomplish through him.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

Even today the Lord wants to bring about the mystery in us; however, he can realize it only through us, by creating, forming us and reshaping the heart and mind, so that they are enabled to be true instruments of the mystery of salvation. God comes, he asks for our will, our body, spirit and soul. If we let ourselves be made by him, He makes us fit for the realization of his mystery. If we rebel, we close ourselves in our old heart and our old mind of sin, He might not do anything in us and as a consequence he might do nothing through us. Who wants to be an instrument of God’s mystery, must let himself be entirely remade, remodeled and rebuilt by God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us a mystery of true salvation.