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from Linus and the lowly shepherds BY DEACON DERRICK JOHNSON Permanent Deacon at Assumption Parish in Welby Christmastide Christmastide lessons lessons P erhaps no other Christmas image stands in defiance of the commercial and worldly notion of the holiday than the humble image of the shepherds keeping watch over their f locks in the fields as the Christ child is born. This scene is at the climax of the 1965 TV movie A Charlie Brown Christmas when Charlie Brown cries out, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" Linus comes to the rescue and delivers the most profound perfor- mance of the movie, quoting almost verbatim from the scene in Luke's Gospel. Linus' moment in the movie is much like those shepherds in the field. His character is quiet, lowly and mostly unnoticed by his peers; but Linus represents in the movie much of what the shepherds represent in this scene in Luke. They are both castaways, lowly, forgotten and humble. As we are entering into the yearly frenzy of the end of Advent and the beginning of Christmastide, these good shep- herds serve as an image that our commercialized and secular world would do well to meditate on. THE LOWLY It is easy to overlook these shepherds in the nativity narrative, and to do so would be in keeping with those in the time of Jesus' birth. The shepherds in the gospel represent men and boys who were not well thought of in society. They held no status; they were away from the hustle of the towns for the most part in their work, and they were as dirty and smelly as the animals in their flocks. Shepherds were those blue-collar workers of their time who were cast aside by many in society. If the shepherds were to try to enter the Temple to offer worship, they would not be allowed as they were considered ritually impure. No one would mistake the shepherds for anything special in these times. Their dress, smell, education level and occupation would ensure they were kept in their place by the community around them. ⊲ 28 DECEMBER 2022 | DENVER CATHOLIC