Many of the saints
of the Church have had great devotions to the Infant Jesus, including
Saints Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio, Thérèse of the Infant Jesus,
and Faustina. The saints' love for him as an infant overwhelmed their
souls with peace and joy, humility and meekness. For those who are
unfamiliar with the devotion to the Infant, it seems a very odd
practice. Many other Christians only speak to Jesus as a grown man,
which he currently is, even while seated at the right hand of the
Father. Yet, we know that Christ is eternal, and his resurrected form
is not as limited as our mortal bodies. At the birth of Jesus, the
moment of God dwelling among us, we find a paradox and mystery of
glory only available to us in faith.
The apostle John
wrote that when God “became flesh,” in the second person of the
Trinity, “we have seen his glory, the glory as of the father's only
son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NRSVCE). When we read the
second chapter of Luke's gospel, we find the birth of Christ written
as moment of glory over and over again. Indeed, Jesus himself is seen
as the glory of God. “For my eyes have seen your salvation […] a
light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people
Israel,” said the Prophet Simeon with the Infant in his arms (Luke
2:30, 32 NRSVCE).
This was not simply
the glory of an infant born without sin, or even the glory of God as
he is in heaven. No, instead, we understand that this infant is the
glory of God in humility. Here lies a stumbling block for half of the
world – that God himself has become a little babe, utterly
dependent on humans, who are his own creation. If the angel Lucifer
fell because of his heights of pride, the Incarnation was the
perfectly opposite act of God. If Adam and Eve's first disobedience
was due to their desire to “become like gods,” God in an opposite
manner became human for us and for them. Thus, St. Paul declared his
devotion to Christ as an infant when he wrote, “Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God, […] emptied himself, taking on
the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (Phil. 2:5-7
NRSVCE).
St. Paul with all
of those great saints before us called us to be like that little
Child Jesus, same in humility and gentleness. Throughout their lives,
the saints encountered the Infant Jesus calling them to be like
himself in all ways. The Child calls us to trust in God as a child,
to love as a child, to hope and to receive as a child. He was filled
with grace and truth, and so imparts to us the same, if we become
like him. “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus told
his disciples (Matt. 18:3 NRSVCE). This Infant, born in poverty and
perfect dependence, has all the power in the world to give unto us by
grace. So, the saints held this Infant close to their hearts,
imitating his simplicity and humility.
Thus, by his own
humility and poverty, his glory has shown into the world, and he has
become a light to the nations. To our own hearts, he shows us our
struggle to seek glory here and there through all the ways of the
world – our work, our play, our inventions or our dreams. Against
our struggle, he comes to us an infant, smiles at us, and asks us to
hold him. He asks us to be simple. He asks us to accept his peace, as
would a little child. Mary, his mother, handing that Infant to us
from her own arms declares to us that by her little Child, God has
“shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the
thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their
thrones, and lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:51-52 NRSVCE). So, in
coming to us not as in the world's glory, but in simplicity (having
nothing, but those who said “Yes”), he has overcome the struggle
of the world. And this is his glory.
Come, Infant Jesus! +
