ST. JOHN'S DAY-DECEMBER 27.
The Birth of Christ— II.
Imagine yourself present in the stable at Bethlehem, and, fixing your eyes on the blessed Infant lying in the manger, ask yourself these important questions;
" Who is this Infant?" The only begotten Son of the eternal Father, " true God of true God. The Lord the God of hosts is His name." (Amos iv. 13.) And " the pillars of heaven tremble and dread at His beck." (Job xxvi. 11.) He is infinitely powerful, and infinitely wise. His perfections are incomprehensible, and His being is eternal.
" What are the circumstances that attend Him?" He suffers all the extremities of cold; He is poorly covered; He is destitute of every kind of convenience and accommodation. There are no servants to attend Him; there is no one near Him, except the Virgin and her spouse, by whose care and labor He is maintained.
" Where is He?" He is far from His own country, and His home; He lies exposed in a manger, between two brute beasts. He might well say of Himself, " I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." (Ps. xxi. 7.)
"Why all this?" For your sake, for the love of you, and to give you example: " to restore lost man to the kingdom of heaven."
" How does this happen?" He was not forced to do this, but He did it by His own free choice. " He was offered because it was His own will." (Is. liii. 7.) He offered Himself cheerfully and with joy. Therefore, when He entered into the world "He hath rejoiced as a giant
