What Does the Creche Say to You? | A Virtual Pilgrimage of Incarnation Reflections for Advent - Week 3

Reflecting on nativity scenes and the words of Saint Francis, Father Al Lauer, and Pope Francis, Fr. Kubicki invites us to rediscover the startling truth of Christmas: that the all-powerful God really became a helpless baby out of love for us.

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Transcript

They say that the very first nativity scene did not consist of statues, but of living persons. Just over 800 years ago, in Greccio, Italy, Saint Francis of Assisi gathered the townspeople in a place where there were animals and a manger filled with hay. He brought along a young couple and their baby. Perhaps he thought that people had heard the story of the birth of Jesus so often that they needed a reminder of what it was really like.

On that first Christmas night, there was no room in any of the inns in Bethlehem, and Mary and Joseph found shelter in a place where animals were kept. To this day, churches and homes continue the tradition of nativity scenes, or creches.

I remember the one that my family had when I was growing up. My father had built a little stable using small branches that he nailed together and glued. When we decorated our Christmas tree, the stable was placed underneath it, and on the roof and all around it we put cotton — the snow we imagined fell on Bethlehem that winter night so long ago.

We had a couple of statues of shepherds, and of course Mary and Joseph and Jesus, as well as three kings, which we kept at a distance from the stable, making it clear that they were still on their way to Bethlehem and wouldn’t reach it for another week and a half. We also had one ox and one donkey, which my mother told me we had to place right next to the manger because they were to breathe on the baby Jesus to keep him warm.

The other thing I remember is that the figure of Jesus didn’t look at all like a little baby. He was big — almost the size of the statues of Mary and Joseph. He filled the manger and wasn’t wrapped in swaddling clothes, but dressed in something like a nightshirt, with his arms stretched out alongside him, almost as if he were about to be crucified.

I’m afraid that a lot of nativity scenes and Christmas cards and holy cards make it difficult to believe that Jesus was an honest-to-goodness baby. I remember one holy card in which Jesus was a full-grown child, sitting up in the manger as animals came in and he blessed them.

I guess I prefer more realistic depictions of the newborn Jesus, because they remind me that the Son of God became a real, tiny baby.

Father Al Lauer, a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 55, reflected on the birth of Jesus in one of his daily reflections, which a group he founded — Presentation Ministries — continues to publish. I like to quote him when I give retreats and talk about the birth of the Son of God. Here is what he wrote:

“He became a helpless infant. The all-powerful Creator of the world could not walk, talk, or roll over. The second Person of the Blessed Trinity talked baby talk, wet his diapers, and spit out his food. Almighty God weighed just a few pounds, shivered, cried, and nursed at his mother’s breast.It seems almost blasphemous to suggest that God became a weak human being — yet he did, out of love for us.”

That is a mind-boggling truth of our faith, and it’s something we all need to be reminded of, because we’ve heard the story so often, and our art doesn’t always do justice to the reality. That’s what nativity scenes are supposed to do — inspire us with a deeper awareness of just how much God loved us, and how he continues to love you and me.

Here is something Pope Francis said in 2019 about nativity scenes:

“Why does the Christmas creche arouse such wonder and move us so deeply? First, because it shows God’s tender love. The Creator of the universe lowered himself to take up our littleness. In Jesus, the Father has given us a brother who comes to seek us out whenever we are confused or lost — a loyal friend ever at our side.He gave us his Son, who forgives us and frees us from our sins, wherever they are and whatever form they take. The Christmas creche speaks to us of the love of God — the God who became a child in order to make us know how close he is to every man, woman, and child, regardless of their condition.”