Many men do not want to receive Him

 In those days an edict was promulgated by Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registered

Now we can see clearly that it was a providence of God that the Roman emperor's decree was issued. For this reason Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and there Jesus was born, as had been prophesied many centuries before

The Virgin knew that the birth of Jesus was near, and she set out on that journey with her thoughts fixed on the Son who was to be born to her in the town of David.

They arrived in Bethlehem, with the joy of being already in the place of their ancestors, and also with the fatigue of a journey through bad roads, during four or five days. The Virgin, in her condition, must have arrived very tired. And in Bethlehem they found no place to settle. There was no room for them in the inn, says St. Luke3 , with a terse phrase. Perhaps Joseph judged that the crowded inn was not a suitable place for Our Lady, especially in those circumstances. St. Joseph must have knocked on many doors before taking Mary to a stable on the outskirts. We can well imagine the scene: Joseph explaining over and over again, with increasing anguish, the same story, "they came from…",

Mary and Joseph a few meters away, seeing Joseph and hearing the refusals. They did not let Christ in. They closed the doors. Mary felt sorry for Joseph, and for those people. How cold the world is towards its God!

Perhaps it was the Virgin who suggested to Joseph that he move temporarily into one of those caves, which served as a stable on the outskirts of the village. She probably encouraged him, telling him not to worry, that they would work it out.... Joseph was comforted by Mary's words and smile. So they settled there with the things they had been able to bring from Nazareth: diapers, some clothes that she herself had prepared with the illusion that only mothers know how to put in their first child....

And in that place the greatest event of humanity took place, in the most absolute simplicity: "And it came to pass," St. Luke tells us, "that while she was there, the hour of her childbirth was fulfilled4. Mary wrapped Jesus with immense love in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger.

Our Lady had more perfect faith than anyone before or after her. And all her gestures were an expression of her faith and tenderness. She would kiss his feet because he was her Lord, she would kiss his face because he was her son. She would stand still for a long time contemplating him.

Then Mary placed the Child in the arms of Joseph, who knows well that he is the Son of the Most High, whom he must care for, protect, teach him a trade. Her whole life is centered on this helpless Child.

Jesus, newborn, does not speak, but he is the eternal Word of the Father. It has been said that the manger is a cathedra. We should today "understand the lessons that Jesus gives us already as a Child, from the time he is newborn, from the time his eyes were opened to this blessed land of men "

5 He is born poor, and teaches us that happiness is not found in the abundance of goods. He comes into the world without ostentation, and encourages us to be humble and not to be attentive to the applause of men. "God humbles himself so that we may draw near to him, so that we may reciprocate his love with our love, so that our freedom may surrender not only to the spectacle of his power, but to the wonder of his humility "

We make a resolution of detachment and humility. We look at Mary and see her full of joy. She knows that a new era has begun for humanity: that of the Messiah, her Son. We ask her never to lose the joy of being with Jesus.

Hablar con Dios