Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1488351
If society rejected and overlooked these men, it begs the question: Why did God send the angels to announce the birth of Jesus to them? Why didn't the angels go to the High Priest or perhaps King Herod? Why was the birth of the King of Kings announced first to some smelly shepherds keeping watch over the flocks? Perhaps it was partially the lowly state of these men that God found pleasing to send the heralds to announce the birth of his son. Perhaps it was because they represented, out- wardly and inwardly, something that was counter- cultural to the time. Our society today is not much different than the one in the time of the shepherds. We value glamor and glitz and as a collective try to distance ourselves from the idea of lowliness and poverty. We often measure success by outward material dis- plays of wealth. Having the best brand of car, purse, watch, jeans and shoes are yardsticks of how we measure success. It is easy for anyone to fall into the trap of lusting for outward riches. The shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem were not worried about such things, and perhaps we need to take a page from their book. Their lowliness and their poverty (both in the material and spiritual sense) made them well-disposed to knowing and hearing the message of the angels announcing the birth of Jesus. It is ironic that when we choose to celebrate the gift of the Savior, which was announced first to these lowest ones, we materialize the celebration with a disordered emphasis on buying things versus trying to be like the shepherds in the field. The reality is that God revealed something so incredible to these shepherds as the angels announced the good news to them. God's power and majesty is manifested to them in an incredible way that we can also learn from today. Do we allow ourselves to experience the awe, trembling and the gift of rightly seeing God's manifest glory in the Christmas mystery? As children this is easier, perhaps aided by the anticipation of presents; but as adults we must allow ourselves to get lost in the same awe that the shepherds experienced. There is nothing more amazing than the Son of God taking our flesh at Mary's fiat in the Annunciation and then being born as a lowly babe in the manger. This amazing reality is what dawned on the lowly shep- herds in the field, and it must dawn in our hearts, too, if we are to expe- rience the joy of Christmas. 30 DECEMBER 2022 | DENVER CATHOLIC