Jesus Is Named

In today’s Gospel we hear that the shepherd kept watch at night. Keeping watch at night? In the cold? Seems very odd but maybe it was that the lowly poor forgotten people like these shepherds were making a prayer to their only hope, Yahweh, to hear them when everyone else seems to ignore them. It is during this watch, their prayer is answered by Yahweh through not one angel but a choir of angels that announce the Good News of their long awaited Messiah being born. God did not send his messengers to the rich upper class of Israel but to the poor shepherds because they were humble people with an open heart. They were awake and ready to receive God’s message and immediately made the journey to find baby Jesus. The shepherds were overjoyed when they have an encounter with Jesus in the manger and it is a life transforming one for them. They return back to their life changed by the encounter experience and are eager to share the message of Jesus to everyone they encounter.

We too are required to have an attitude like the shepherds, being watchful in prayer. Humble and open hearted to receive God’s message. Make the difficult journey to encounter Him and meet our saviour personally. We are then encouraged to get to know Him better so that we can take His message to others through our lives. We may not understand God’s ways of doing things and just like mama Mary we may have to ponder these things in our hearts because if God has a good plan for us, we must trust Him to help us get there even though He cannot give you all the answers to the unanswered questions at a particular time of need.