Children's Sermon: Expectation of Our Lord's Birth

by Francis Cuthbert Doyle, 1896

and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him."--Isaias 45:8

I. After spending three months with her cousin St. Elizabeth, the Blessed Virgin returned to her own home at Nazareth. There she occupied herself in the humble offices of the household, awaiting in prayer and faith the accomplishment of the Archangel's words. At last the time drew nigh, when God had decreed that the ‘expected of all nations' should enter the world, and be visible to the eyes of men.

We may well conceive with what eagerness His holy and virginal Mother looked for His advent, now that it might happen at any moment. She longed to behold with her own eyes Him, after Whom the race of men had been sighing for the last four thousand years. He was to her that which He could not be to any other created being--her Son, bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh; and therefore, as her love for Him exceeded that of all others, so also did her wistful expectation of His coming immeasurably surpass theirs. She would think, no doubt, of those weary centuries which had rolled so slowly by, during which devout men had sighed, and prayed, and pined away for His coming--had wished to see the day, and had not seen it.

She would reflect upon those early patriarchal times, when the shepherd-progenitors of the great David prayed for Christ's advent, as they kept the night-watches over their flocks. She would see, in spirit, the prophets and the wise men of Israel, lifting up their hands to heaven, and with tearful eyes imploring God to rain down the Just One, as a refreshing dew upon the thirsty earth. By the flowing waters of Babylon's great river she would see the captive children of her people, weeping as they thought of Zion, and praying with aching hearts for the great Messias to appear, and free them from the oppressor's yoke. She would think, at last, of that great Prophet, who longed so vehemently for her Son, that as he prayed by the Tigris, at the hour of the evening sacrifice, an Archangel sent by God stood before him, and revealed to him the moment when the Liberator should present Himself, because he had with so extraordinary an ardour desired to know it.

The combined longing of all these now filled her breast. The hour was close at hand, and all that patriarch, sage, and prophet had wished for, lay enshrined in her maternal bosom. There Jesus awaited the moment of His birth, conscious of that baptism wherewith He had to be baptised, and sorely straitened with eager longing for the pre-ordained moment, when the waters of suffering and of sorrow should close over His head, and flood His soul with woe unutterable.

II. You will, perhaps, be able to conceive some notion, faint though it may be, of the intense ardour with which the holy Virgin longed for the visible presence of Jesus Christ, in order that she might press Him to her bosom, if you call to mind the eagerness with which you yourself desire something, to which you look forwards with more than ordinary anxiety. Without any irreverence, we might suggest to you, as an example, the day when studies are to cease, and you are to go home for your holidays.

When you contemplate that much-desired event, while it is still at some distance, you look at it with a sort of sickening sensation, as at an object which is hopelessly beyond your reach. The time seems to drag itself slowly and wearily along. Weeks look like months, and months lengthen themselves out into years. Fancy, then, what must have been the holy impatience of our Lady for the coming of Him for Whom her soul longed, with all the intense burning love of her spotless heart! When you reflect upon this, let it stir up in your heart a little of that glowing fire of love, which ought to burn in the heart of every boy who is preparing to approach the Holy Sacrament.

This is the lesson which the Church tries to impress upon you, by establishing a special festival in honour of this holy longing. Try, therefore, to learn it well. When you are about to partake of the body and blood of Jesus Christ--when you are to have the happiness of receiving into your heart the very same Jesus for Whom our Lady sighed and prayed, do not be so cold! Do not be so careless, so indifferent. Remember the weary centuries through which priests, and sages, kings and peoples, wept and watched, and prayed to see the day which you see, and did not see it, and to enjoy the privileges which you hold so cheap, and did not enjoy them. Apply yourself vigorously to prayer. Beg of the Holy Spirit to come into your soul, and to set it on fire with His love, that you may begin to thirst after the presence of Jesus, as vehemently as the heart panteth after the cool refreshing water-brooks.

III. But do not confine this longing of your heart, to the days when you have the happiness of communicating. It is good to sigh, to weep, and even to faint away with languor after that heavenly banquet. Yet do not think that God will be satisfied with this. Those who love Him feel no less ardour for all that is dear to Him. Now, if there is one thing more than any other, which God specially desires, it is the advancement of His glory among the children of men. This is the wish of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Therefore, if you love Him, and desire to be of one spirit with Him, try to long ardently for that after which He sighed with so great vehemence during His mortal pilgrimage. He wished for the sanctification of men's Souls. You must do so likewise. First of all, begin by purifying and adorning your own interior. Then strive, as far as in you lies, to help your fellow-students to sanctify themselves, by giving good example, by letting them see how sweet a thing it is to bear the yoke of Christ, and above all, by praying earnestly and continually that God may preserve both them and you from all stain of sin. Again; Jesus desired that we should do the will of His Father.

Try to accomplish it first in your own heart. Be submissive to your Superiors, who make known to you the will of God, for of them. He Himself says: “If you hear and obey them, you hear and obey Me." Be resigned when there happens to you anything which is contrary to your will; and in all the events of life, let your prayer ever be: 'Thy will be done.' Lastly : God wishes that His kingdom may prevail over the kingdom of Satan, that virtue may be practised, that vice may be held in abhorrence, and that justice may reign upon the earth. Try to correspond with His wishes, by making your own heart a kingdom, of which He shall be King, and then, by word and by example, by fervent prayer and by constant desire, labour to establish that kingdom in the hearts of others.

Galat. iv. 4: "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent His Son made of a woman."

Like the dawning of the morning,
On the mountain's golden heights,
Like the breaking of the moonbeams
On the gloom of cloudy nights,
Like a secret told by angels,
Getting known upon the earth,
Is the Mother's expectation
Of Messiah's speedy birth!

Thou wert happy, blessed Mother,
With the very bliss of heaven,
Since the angel's salutation
In thy raptured ear was given;
Since the Ave of that midnight,
When thou wert anointed Queen,
Like a river overflowing
Hath the grace within thee been.

And what wonders have been in thee
All the day and all the night.
While the angels fell before thee,
To adore the Light of light,
While the glory of the Father
Hath been in thee as a home,
And the sceptre of creation
Hath been wielded in thy womb?

Thou hast waited, child of David!
And thy waiting now is o'er!
Thou hast seen Him, blessed Mother!
And wilt see Him evermore!
Oh, His human face and features,
They were passing sweet to see:
Thou beholdest them this moment;
Mother, show them now to me!