"For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you…"
(Luke 2:11)
In one of his meditations on this mystery, Friar Volantino asks: why does the Gospel say "the city of David?" (One might think that “in town” would be enough for a bunch of small-town, geographically-savvy shepherds!) Every detail of the Scriptures is important, so what can we learn from this one – we who long to find Christ within the manger of our lives? In this case, we have to ask ourselves, who is David? As our founder points out, he is the great Psalmist, the man who gave words to nearly every cry the human heart can offer to God as prayer.
The city of David, then, can symbolize a city of prayer. And if we want to make our homes another Bethlehem, if we want Christ to be born ever more fully in our own lives and families, we have to learn how to gather together to pray.
If we don’t, we run the risk of the inn-keepers who were too busy with things of the world to notice the Holy Family at their door. And how easy it can be for the Lord to come to us, too, and once again find money-changers in his house of prayer (cf. Matt 21:13) – to find our hearts and minds and conversations fixed on things that we can't take with us, that ultimately don't have the slightest weight on the scales of eternity.
But there was one other option in Bethlehem that night: the stable, whose grit and ox and ass and smell didn’t matter in the least to a God who was only looking for an open door. And that’s where our prayer has to begin – by opening up our hearts and relationships, together (and just as they are) to the Word and the power of God.
The Scriptures assure us that Christ will be born in such a city of prayer!
Advent challenge: every day this week, gather with your family to spend some moments praying together. You might consider reading the daily Mass Psalm or Gospel aloud, spending a few minutes to pray with it individually, and then sharing your thoughts and wrapping up with a closing prayer (like an Our Father or Hail Mary). Or you might take a moment to share with each other something good and something difficult is going on in your life, and then all bring those things to God as you pray out loud with one another.
And remember...
“Christians do not make a house of God until they are one in charity. The timber and stone must fit together in an orderly plan, must be joined in perfect harmony, must give each other the support as it were of love, or no one would enter the building...” (St. Augustine)
Image: The Birth of Jesus Christ, Carl Bloch