Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-12-28


this Christmas Days sun-from the east
it is travelling On-becoming more and
more vOuminous in its passage to the
west. IntOned in the Holy Land, its
| joyful strains augmented in Cathedral
and Chapel of Europe and Africa-we
catch the sublime resonance as it comes
ripping over the Atlantic, and in one
majestic tone re-echO it far beyond the
Rocky Mountains until it loses itself in
the broad expanse of the Pacific.
We feel joyful, happy merry, and of a
right we should be- particularly to me,
my dear friends will il be day of joy
and happiness, for by Gods grace 1 will
be privileged, for the first time, to offer
my feeble voice at the Altar of God in
the proclamation of His Glory and Peace
to men of good will. AnOinted of Him,
| will stand there upon His throne, and
in your name, acknowledge the boun-
| teOus gifts received to-day in the birth of
the infant Saviour at Bethlehem. With
| the Sacred writer well may l say that
MY life is magnified this day above all
my days"
Yes, nay dear friends, this day above
all days, to be among you. and in your
name to glorlfy God, to offer unto Him,
for you the August Sacrifice of the Mass,
to call down upon you heavenly benedic-
| ton, this is indeed a happiness incompar
able, But to me, as unworthy as | feel
myself, the privilege entails a burden
great, which as a priest of God it must
be my duty to bear. TS sustain it, my
whole reliance must be placed in Gods
bountiful grace, and to obtain that, | ask
| of you the cooperation OF your prayers,
that | may endure faithfully in the du-
ties of Gods holy priesthood.
Let then this day be of the blessings
and happiness which it signifies, for the
the Gospel tells us that this day is born
to you Saviour, who is Christ the Lord,
in the City of David. And this shall be
sign unto you; you shall find the infant
wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in
manger." Such were the marks, by
which the shepherds were to recognize
the expected of nations" A Savior,
Christ the Lord, wrapped in swaddling
clothes laid in a manger.
We shall follow in the wake of these
good Shepherds AS we draw near, be-
hold the scene, child lying on bed of
coarse straw within a manger, breathed
upon by the warm breath of beasts of
burden, its clothing mere sWaddling
and st. Joseph standing in mute appeal
to the God in their midst. Oh, what
picture! The faith of the ancient patri-
archs, the reliance of the chosen people,
the veiled subject of their laws, their
prophesies and their cantcles.
Enraptured in divine faith, in divine
presence, the shepherds glorify and
adore; then going away they praise God
for his goodness in giving to them their
Lord and Saviour. We, too, are beside
that crib, and what shall we do? Follow
the example of the poor shepherds and
acknowledge the providence of divine
wisdom, or, as the Jews, stand Mortified
at the very thought that their SAVIOUR,
their Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, is
that poor, insignificant babe of the
manger?
We shall acknowledge our faith and
sing out with the angels: "Gloria in eX-
celsis." We shall sing it with the fulness
of our whole soul, for instinctively the
awful presence draws us from earth to
the heavenly abode from whence this in
FAINT has come.
The humble scene is still so august that
the true greatness of God is clearly mani
fest We feel His presence there, even VS.
we do when we admire the unlverse-the
very sublimity entails Omnipotent Pres.
ence. Creation speaks of its Creator
GOd-so does the Incarnation. Bethle-
hem speaks of God. The poverty scene
of Bethlehem is If a wisdom profound,
infinitely surprising the wisdom of crea-
lures.
But was this sublime humility neces-
sary in order to give to the world
Saviour? From our limited knowledge of
Omnipotent Power we would readily an
swer that it was not necessary, for He
who eated the world out of nothing
was not at loss to give that world a Re-
deemer i'll whatsoever manner He might
have wished, although He must neces-
sarily have sent His son for that redemp-
ton.
The Savior's advent in an humble man.
ner as that of Bethlehem is, however, far
beyond our knowledge. 1t was the work
of God, and the works of God are not as
the works of man.