Advent Meditation~By St. Alphonsus de Liguori (December 16)

[Dawn Marie]

THE MYSTERIES OF THE FAITH

THE INCARNATION

Discourse by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

December 16, 2014

Discourse 17

 

“The Eternal Word from being Rich made Himself Poor”

 

Excutere de pulvere, consurge, sede, Jerusalem.

 

“Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit up, O Jerusalem.”---- Is. lii. 2.

 

Arise, Christian soul, says the Prophet, shake off the dust of earthly affections:  “Shake thyself from the dust; arise,” arise from the mire in which thou art lying in misery, and sit up:  “Sit up, O Jerusalem,”  sit as a queen and rule over those passions which would deprive thee of eternal glory, and which expose thee to the danger of everlasting destruction.

 

But to attain this what must the soul do? It must study and consider well the life of Jesus Christ, who, from being rich, as possessing all the riches of Heaven and earth, made Himself poor, despising all the goods of the world. It is impossible for any one to think of Jesus having become poor for His sake, and not at the same time to be moved to despise all for the love of Him. Let us so consider Him, and for this let us implore Jesus and Mary to enlighten us.

 

1.

 

Everything that is in Heaven and on earth is Gods. “The world is Mine and the fullness thereof.”  But even this is little; Heaven and earth are but the least portion of the riches of God. The riches of God are infinite, and can never fail, because His riches do not depend on others, but he, who is the Infinite Good, possesses them Himself. Therefore it was that David said:  “Thou art My God, for Thou hast no need of my goods.”  Now this God, who is so rich, made Himself poor by becoming man, that He might thereby make us poor sinners rich:  “Being rich, He became poor for your sakes, that through His poverty you might be rich.”

 

What!  A God become poor?  And why?  Let us understand the reason. The riches of this world can be nothing but dust and mire, but it is mire that so completely blinds men that they can no longer see which are true riches. Before the coming of Jesus Christ, the world was so full of darkness, because it was full of sin:  “All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.”  Mankind had corrupted the law and reason, so that, living like brutes, intent only on acquiring the riches and pleasures of this world, they cared no more for the riches of eternity. But the Divine Mercy ordained that the very Son of God Himself should come down to enlighten these blind creatures:  “To them that dwelt in the reign of the shadow of death, light is risen.”

 

Jesus was called the Light of the Gentiles:  “A light for the revelation of the Gentiles. The Light shineth in darkness.”  Thus did the Lord from the first promise to be Himself our Master, and a Master who should be seen by us; who should teach us the way of salvation, which consists in the practice of all the virtues, and especially that of holy poverty:  “And thy eyes  shall see Thy Teacher.”  Moreover, this Master was not only to teach us by His words, but still more by the example of His life.

 

St. Bernard says that poverty was not to be found in Heaven; it existed only on earth, but that man, not knowing its value, did not seek after it. Therefore the Son of God came down from Heaven to this earth, and chose it for His companion throughout His whole life, that by His example He might also render it precious and desirable to us:  “Poverty was not found in Heaven, but she was well known on earth, and men knew not her excellence. So the Son of God loved her, and came down from Heaven to take her to Himself, that we might learn to value her when we see how He regards her.”  And behold our Redeemer as an Infant, who at the very beginning of His life made Himself a teacher of poverty in the cave of Bethlehem, which is expressly called by the  same St. Bernard, “the School of Christ,”  and by St. Augustine, “the Grotto of Doctrine.”

 

For this end was it decreed by God that the edict of Caesar should come forth, namely, that His Son should not only be born poor, but the poorest of men, causing Him to be born away from His own houses, have certainly more comforts in the way of clothes, of fire and the assistance of persons who lend their aid, even if it is out of compassion. What son of a poor person was ever born in a stable? In a stable only beasts are born. St. Luke relates how it happened.

The time being come that Mary was to be delivered, Joseph goes to seek some lodging for Her in Bethlehem. He goes about and inquires at every house, and he finds none. He tries to find one in an inn, but neither there does he find any:  “There was no room for them in the inn.”  So that Mary was obliged to take shelter and bring forth Her Son in that cave where, notwithstanding al the concourse of people, there was no one; there were only two animals.

 

When the son of princes are born, they have warm rooms prepared for them, adorned with hangings, silver cradles, the finest clothes and they are waited on by the highest nobles and ladies of the kingdom. The King of Heaven, instead of a warm and beautiful room, has nothing but a cold grotto, whose only ornament is the grass that grows there; instead of a bed of feathers, He has nothing but a little hard, sharp straw; instead of fine garments, He has but a few poor, rough, cold and damp rags:  “The Creator of Angels,” writes St. Peter Damian, “is not said to have been clad in purple, but to have been wrapped in rags. Let worldly pride blush at the resplendent humility of the Saviour.”

 

Instead of a fire, and the attendance of great people, He has but the warm breath and the company of two animals; finally, in place of the silver cradle, He must lie in a vile manger. What is this, said St. Gregory of Nyssa, the King of kings, who fills Heaven and earth with His presence, finds no better place to be born in than a stable for beasts? “He who encompasses all things in His embrace is laid in the manger of brute cattle.”  Yes, for this King of kings for our sake wished to be poor, and the poorest of all. Even the children of the poor have milk enough provided for them, but Jesus Christ wished to be poor even in this, for the milk of Mary was miraculous, and She received it not naturally, but from Heaven, as the holy Church teaches us: “The Virgin gave Him milk from a breast filled from Heaven.”  And God, in order to comply with the desire of His Son, who wished to be poor in everything, did not provide Mary with milk in abundance, but only with as much as would barely suffice to sustain the life of His Son, whence the same holy Church says:  “He was fed on a little milk.”

 

And Jesus Christ, as He was born poor, so did He also continue in poverty all His life. Not only was He poor, but a beggar, for the word egenus, used by St. Paul, signifies in the Greek text a beggar, so that Cornelius a Lapide says, “It is evident that Christ was not only poor, but also a beggar.” Our Redeemer, after being born in such poverty, was obliged to fly from His own country into Egypt. In this journey, St. Bonaventure goes on to consider and compassionate the poverty of Mary and Joseph, who, traveling like poor people on so long a journey, and carrying the Holy Infant, must have suffered very much on account of their poverty:  “What did they do for food,” says the saint? “Where did they repose at night? How were they lodged?”  What could they have had to eat except a little hard bread? Where could they have slept at night, in that desert, if not on the ground, in the open air, or under some tree? Who that met these three great pilgrims on their way would ever have taken them for anything else than three poor beggars?

 

[Dawn Marie]

A third went to the poor, a third to the temple and I forget where the last third went of the gifts the Magi brought.  I can't remember if they kept the last third or gave it to someone else.

[Birgitta]

Didn't the Magi bring them gold? I'm not sure how much, but I would think it was a fair amount if they were kings who believed him to be the Son of God.  Maybe it was only enough to last for a little while? Just thinkin' ...

[Kate Jackson]

.... I always considered JMJ as poor only in the sense that they were not over comfortable i.e. God provided for their necessities - the trade that Joseph used was carpentry.

[Dawn Marie]

I didn't know that...

[Dawn Marie]

Yes, for this King of kings for our sake wished to be poor, and the poorest of all. Even the children of the poor have milk enough provided for them, but Jesus Christ wished to be poor even in this, for the milk of Mary was miraculous, and She received it not naturally, but from Heaven, as the holy Church teaches us: “The Virgin gave Him milk from a breast filled from Heaven.”  And God, in order to comply with the desire of His Son, who wished to be poor in everything, did not provide Mary with milk in abundance, but only with as much as would barely suffice to sustain the life of His Son, whence the same holy Church says:  “He was fed on a little milk.”