Let us go to Bethlehem

“Let us go to Bethlehem”

Bethlehem is the turning point that alters the course of history. There God, in the house of bread, is born in a manger. It is as if he wanted to say: “Here I am, as your food.” He does not take, but gives us to eat; he does not give us a mere thing, but his very self…. To us, who from birth are used to taking and eating, Jesus begins to say: Take and eat. This is my body (Mt 26:26)…. Today too, on the altar, he becomes bread broken for us; he knocks at our door, to enter and eat with us. At Christmas, we on earth receive Jesus, the bread from heaven. It is a bread that never grows stale, but enables us even now to have a foretaste of eternal life….

After Bethlehem as the house of bread, let us reflect on Bethlehem as the city of David…. At Christmas, in the city of David, it was the shepherds who welcomed Jesus into the world. On that night, the Gospel tells us, they were filled with fear (Lk 2:9), but the angel said to them Be not afraid (v. 10). How many times do we hear this phrase in the Gospels: Be not afraid? It seems that God is constantly repeating it as he seeks us out. Because we, from the beginning, because of our sin, have been afraid of God; after sinning, Adam says: I was afraid and so I hid (Gn 3:10). Bethlehem is the remedy for this fear, because despite man’s repeated “no,” God constantly says “yes.” He will always be God-with-us. And lest his presence inspire fear, he makes himself a tender Child….

The shepherds of Bethlehem also tell us how to go forth to meet the Lord. They were keeping watch by night: they were not sleeping, but doing what Jesus often asks all of us to do, namely, be watchful. They remain alert and attentive in the darkness; and God’s light then shone around them (Lk 2:9). This is also the case for us. Our life can be marked by waiting, which amid the gloom of our problems hopes in the Lord and yearns for his coming; then we will receive his life…. So the shepherds immediately set out: we are told that they went with haste…. 

Let us go now to Bethlehem (Lk 2:15). With these words, the shepherds set out. We too, Lord, want to go up to Bethlehem…. I want to come to Bethlehem, Lord, because there you await me. I want to realize that you, lying in a manger, are the bread of my life. I need the tender fragrance of your love so that I, in turn, can be bread broken for the world. Take me upon your shoulders, Good Shepherd; loved by you, I will be able to love my brothers and sisters and to take them by the hand. Then it will be Christmas, when I can say to you: Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you (cf. Jn 21:17).

Pope Francis