Brother John (3:23)

St. Francis of Assisi is attributed with

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creating the first ever Kressh scene, the first ever reenactment of the manger scene.

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What St. Francis did is the day before Christmas, he had a number of

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the brothers go and find a cave

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and prepare it in the manner of a manger.

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This is called the creche.

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And so he had hay brought in

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and animals and all of the like. And why St. Francis did this? He wanted to experience what our lady experienced. He wanted to experience what the shepherds experienced as they came and they saw the newborn babe of Bethlehem wrapped in swaddling clothes. And unfortunately, my friends, I can't come to where you are and bring some ox and donkeys and some other barn animals and maybe a couple shepherds and some hay and build you a little or a big creche for you to experience essentially everything that St. Francis built,

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to experience, again, what Mary, Joseph, and

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the shepherds would have experienced.

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But what I think I can do is to share with you a story which may help us experience

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what these

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different people around the manger scene would have experienced at the Nativity of the Lord. As I've referenced before the friars, we have a homeless shelter in the South Bronx. And what we do for Christmas on Christmas Eve is we throw the guys a Christmas party.

Friar Francis (4:48)

We sing Christmas carols, prepare a really

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special meal with the help of some of our volunteers, and then we have a couple of rooms set up on one of the floors where the guys

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can go through and pick different items they want. And for Christmas, one Christmas Eve, as

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the friars were, had prepared all of this and was ready for the evening

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celebration, we received a new guest for

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the very first time, we'll call him Fitz.

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And Fitz had just gotten out of

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prison, where he had been for a

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number of years for crimes that he had, in fact, committed. And Fitz's whole life had been difficult,

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and a lot led to him doing the bad things that he had done.

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And so he comes to us, and he comes to us not because he

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knew what he was getting into, just

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because he had been told that this is a place that he might be

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able to find a bed.

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So Fitz comes in and we give

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him a little orientation as we normally do, show him the room,

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and then we welcome him into the celebration that night. And so you can imagine his surprise, curiosity, confusion, as we're all gathered together

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in one of our recreation rooms with

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25, 35 of our guests of the homeless men who are staying with us, a number of friars, these guys with funny beards and gray robes who he had no experience of wearing, you know, Santa hats. And everybody's eating snacks and popcorn and treats and candy and singing Christmas carols. And guys are standing up and being goofy and we're singing the Christmas carol, the twelve days of Christmas, whatever it's called. And on each day, different guys are getting up and doing something fun and silly and. And he's taking it in, and he's not like jumping in like everybody else is. He's just observing and understandably so.

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So after we sing, you know, the

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carols, we go downstairs and have a really nice dinner. And again, Fitz just taking it in. And you can see him kind of

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looking around and asking these questions.

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And as he's eating this really, really nice meal, the. The best meal he's had in a

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number of years, you can see, if

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you will, him keeping these things in his heart, pondering what's happening. So finally we go up and get all together and one of the brothers

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gives a little Christmas word and shares

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about the donations given and how we're

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sharing them with them so that they

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can have some gifts for Christmas. And one by one, each of the guys goes through the different rooms with

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his bag and picks out the gifts that he wants.

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About halfway through, you know, the 30 guys Fitz goes through, and at each door he's greeted with a smile and warmth and said, hey, here's what we have, you know, here's some jackets, here's some shoes, here's some socks. Like, take whatever you want.

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And he goes and he picks the things he wants and he fills his bag.

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And as all the guys slowly start

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to reconvene again in the recreation room

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and they're chit chatting and talking and

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eating some of the snacks, one of

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the brothers sees Fitz seated in the very back, bent over with his elbows

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on his knees and his bag at his feet and his face in the palm of his hands,

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and you can

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see the movement of the shoulders that

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are indicating that Fitz is crying.

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So we don't know Fitz at all, you know, and one of the brothers kind of goes up and Sits by him and gently says, hey, Fitzgerald, is everything okay?

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And Fitz slowly raises his face from

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his hands and you can see his. His tear soaked cheeks. And he begins to shake his head and said, it's just too much. It's just too much. Fitz was just overwhelmed by the goodness, overwhelmed by the gifts upon gifts upon gifts that he had received, especially, in contrast, the life he had lived to that point.

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And his experience was one of being almost knocked over.

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It was a heavy gift.

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And this movement of his heart expressed

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through tears of like, it's just too much. And my brothers and sisters, I can't

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help but think that this is the

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most reasonable and just and logical response before the Lord's nativity, before the Kresh in the manger, and the Babe of Bethlehem. It is a gift so good, so undeserved, so beyond expectation. It's just too much. And yet it's true. And perhaps this was the movement of the hearts of the shepherds as they saw the Lord and they left with joy and wonder, like, this is unbelievable. Glory to God in the highest.

Brother John (9:54)

It's just too good.

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It's just too much. And I certainly believe that Mary would have experienced some of this, not only as she held in her own arms the Messiah, king, the Babe of Bethlehem, but as she received the shepherds in the future, the magi and their gifts.

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So, my brothers and sisters, I invite

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you in prayer to place yourself before

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the manger, prayerfully in our imagination,

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to

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look upon Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, surrounded by Mary and Joseph. Perhaps you're joined by the shepherds and the magi and look at Jesus, this gift given for you. And ask the Lord for this, this holy movement of the heart, the holy grace to receive the gift being given and to be moved with awe at this gift given us that is so undeserved, but so good and so true. Let us pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.

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My brothers and sisters, thank you so much for joining me and praying with me again today.

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I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

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Poco.

Father Mark Mary (12:57)

Poco. Friends.