On that first Christmas night, the shepherds were the fortunate ones of whom Isaiah spoke in the first reading. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” The shepherds were keeping the night watch over their flocks. They were shivering in the cold blackness when suddenly the glory of the Lord shone around them. The celestial brilliance was more than the soft light of a full moon. It was even more than the light of the noonday sun. The glory of the Lord shone around them. The light of heaven radiated from the angelic messenger, then was magnified by the flood of a heavenly host of angels whose voices glowed with the celestial praise, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Angels are prominent in this gospel story as well as most of the infancy narratives. The archangel Gabriel appeared to Zecharich and the Virgin Mary in the gospel of Luke. In the gospel of Matthew, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream directing him to take Mary into his home. It is in the infancy narrative of Luke, though, where a persistent presence of angels is found. At key moments in the early chapters of the gospel the angels urged along God’s saving plan culminating in the story this evening. Gabriel announced to Zechariah the birth of John the Baptist. The archangel then went to Nazareth a few months later to announced to Mary that she would be the favored servant of God. Finally, an angel roused the weary shepherds with good news of great joy. All these angelic appearances reached a crescendo with the vast hosts of angelic choirs singing the praises of heaven on the bleak hillsides surrounding the sleeping little town of Bethlehem.
Both scriptural references as well as popular speculation about angels usually portray them with flowing robes and wings, halos signaling the heavenly light radiating from their being. Given the prominent angelic presence in the infancy narratives, there may be more to learn about them then just acknowledging their supporting role in the Nativity of the Christ.
Angels – according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church – are part of heaven. They are spiritual beings with intelligence and will who always behold the face of the heavenly Father. Christ is at the center of this angelic world. Angels were created through him and for him.
These few teachings expand our understanding of the wonderful, merciful mystery of the Incarnation. In the birth of Jesus a great chasm is crossed. Earth is reconciled to heaven. The antiphons of the angelic hosts announce that heaven has come to earth. The invisible has become visible.
What is true of the angels of heaven became possible for the children of earth. The divine countenance the angels eternally contemplate in heaven was mercifully revealed to men and women in the face of Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of all creation. So, of course the heavenly host came to Bethlehem. They came to contemplate the divine radiance in the holy face of the child Jesus who now was on earth as he is eternally in heaven. Of course, would they urge the shepherds and all of us to do the same. “You will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
The messages of angels to Mary and Joseph were welcomed by their holy, humble hearts. While being a woman and a man on this earth, they accepted the wisdom and mercy of God into their hearts and so recognized the divine goodness of God in the holy innocence of the newborn child. Even as they continued their earthly existence, while nurturing and accompanying the child Jesus, they were already part of his heavenly kingdom. They experienced what angels eternally enjoy.
The Christmas Feast reminds us how close to heaven Jesus has brought us. If we open the doors of our hearts to the Lord Jesus as did Mary and Joseph, then he will enter your heart with all his angels. That is why Paul in the second reading urges us to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age. Through Christ we are already part of the Kingdom of heaven.
May we live now in harmony with the hope for eternal life, because Christ Jesus has already brought heaven to us. Faith in Jesus opens for us the door to heaven. Our faith in Jesus helps us see what Joseph and Mary saw. Even a glimmer of faith casts a light that dispels darkness and doubt so we may walk together with those shepherds and approach here at this altar the same beautiful mystery of God’s infinite mercy they found in the manger. Under the appearance of bread and wine the glory of the Father’s only Son comes into our hands full of grace and truth. The angelic hosts come this night urging us to draw near with them to taste and see the goodness of God now and for all eternity.