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Image: Adoration of the Shepherds by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1657
Pope Francis General Audience
Paul VI Hall – Wednesday 12th February 2025
Cycle of catechesis – Jubilee 2025. Jesus Christ, our hope. I. The Childhood of Jesus. 5.
“A Savior has been born unto them, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:11).
“The Birth of Jesus and the Visit of the Shepherds”
Luke 2:8-12
And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger
Dear brothers and sisters,
On our Jubilee journey of catechesis on Jesus, who is our hope, we pause today on the event of his birth in Bethlehem.
The Son of God enters history by becoming our travel companion, and begins his journey while still in his mother’s womb. The Evangelist Luke tells us that, as soon as he was conceived, he went from Nazareth to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth; and then, at the end of the pregnancy, from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. Mary and Joseph were forced to go to the city of King David, where Joseph had also been born. The long-awaited Messiah, the Son of the Most High God, allowed himself to be counted, that is to say, counted and registered, like any other citizen. He submits to the decree of an emperor, Caesar Augustus, who considers himself the master of all the whole world.
Luke places the birth of Jesus in “a time that can be precisely determined” and in “a precisely indicated geographical setting,” so that “the universal and the concrete touch each other” (as Benedict XVI wrote, The Infancy of Jesus, 2012, 77). God, who enters into history, does not destabilize the structures of the world, but wants to illuminate and recreate them from within.
Bethlehem (in Hebrew, Beit-lechem) means “house of bread”.
It was there that Mary’s days of childbirth were fulfilled and Jesus was born.
Bread came down from heaven to satisfy the hunger of the world (John 6:51 – “I am the living bread[a] which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh”).
The angel Gabriel had announced the birth of the Messianic King with the sign of greatness:
“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end” (Lk 1:32-33).
But Jesus is born in a way that is totally unprecedented for a king.
In fact, “while they were in that place, the days of childbirth were fulfilled. She gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the shelter” (Lk 2:6-7). The Son of God is not born in a royal palace, but in the back of a house, in the place where the animals are.
Luke thus shows us that God does not come into the world with loud proclamations, he does not manifest himself with clamor but begins his journey in humility.
And who are the first witnesses of this event?
They are shepherds: men with little culture, smelling of the constant contact with animals, who live on the margins of society.
Yet they exercise the office by which God himself makes himself known to his people
Genesis 48:15 – He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has led me all my life long to this day;
Genesis 49:24 – his bow remained unmoved, his arms[ were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel
Psalm 23:1; The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
Psalm 80:2; Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who lead Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh! Stir up thy might, and come to save us!
Isaiah 40:11 – He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.).
God chooses them to be the recipients of the most wonderful news that has ever resounded in history: “Do not be afraid: for I bring you great joy to all people: this day in the city of David a Savior is born to you, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a newborn child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Lk 2:10-12).
The place to go to meet the Messiah is a manger.
In fact, after waiting so long, “there was no room left for the Savior of the world, for the One for whom all things were created there is no room”.
(Col 1:16 – for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers—all things were created through Him and for Him.),
The shepherds thus learn that, in a very humble place, reserved for animals, the long-awaited Messiah was born for them, to be their Savior, their Shepherd.
This news opens their hearts to wonder, praise and joyful proclamation. “Unlike so many people who pretend to do a thousand other things, pastors become the first witnesses of what is essential, that is, of the salvation that is offered to them. It is the humblest and the poorest who know how to welcome the event of the Incarnation”
(Admirabile Signum 5. – in footnote below).
Brothers and sisters, let us also ask for the grace to be able, like the Shepherds, to wonder and praise before God, and to be able to guard what he has entrusted to us: our talents, our charisms, our vocation and the people he places at our side.
Let us ask the Lord to help us recognize in weakness the extraordinary strength of the Child Jesus, who comes to renew the world and transform our lives with his hopeful plan for all humanity.
___________________________
Footnote: Admirabile Signum 5.
With what emotion should we place the mountains, streams, sheep and shepherds in the nativity scene! As we do so, we are reminded that, as the prophets had foretold, all creation rejoices in the coming of the Messiah. The angels and the guiding star are a sign that we too are called to go to the cave and to worship the Lord. “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us” (Lk 2:15). This is what the shepherds said to each other after the angel’s announcement.
There is a beautiful lesson in these simple words. Unlike so many other people who are preoccupied with so many things, the shepherds are the first to see the most important thing of all: the gift of salvation.
It is the humble and the poor who welcome the event of the Incarnation. The shepherds respond to God who comes to meet us in the Child Jesus by setting out to meet him with love, gratitude and reverence.
Thanks to Jesus, this encounter between God and his children gives birth to our religion and explains its unique beauty, which is so wonderfully revealed in the crib.
