DECEMBER 31.
The Adoration of the Shepherds.
I. " Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word, which is come to pass." (Luke ii. 15.) Observe the prompt obedience of the shepherds, and learn thence to obey with promptitude the divine inspirations. " For they came with haste. No one can see Christ slothfully," says St. Ambrose. Go you, also, over frequently to Bethlehem, and meditate on the mysteries, which were there exhibited for your sanctification and salvation. 'Say with holy David, " Oh that some man would give me a drink of the water out of the cistern which is in Bethlehem!" (2 Kings xxiii. 15.) This cistern, in your regard, is the manger; and the water is Christ, who is "the fountain of living water" (Jer. ii. 13), "and the fountain of wisdom." (Ecclus. i. 5.)
II. "And they found Mary and Joseph; and the Infant lying in a manger." (Luke ii. 16.) Hence you may learn that the easiest way of finding Christ is" by means of the blessed Virgin and the intercession of the Saints. Observe with what spiritual joy the shepherds perform their acts of adoration. They "return," and recount what they have seen to others, "glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard." (Luke ii.) Unite your adorations with theirs, and glorify and praise God, by imitating the example of this new-born Infant.
III. " But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart." (Luke ii. 19.) Observe the four classes of people that were then in Bethlehem. 1. Some passed by the crib, saw the shepherds and the object of their wonder; but, seeing nothing themselves extraordinary, passed on,
