It’s often been said that God sent his son 

Into the world to take on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

How to be human beings who live with our mortality, 

Our weaknesses, our vulnerability, 

And everything that is involved with the 

Conditional aspects of our lives, 

Where we also begin to see that we cannot save ourselves. 

Because the real temptation from the very beginning 

Of creation, as we saw in the genesis account, 

Is humanity’s temptation to give in to that temptation 

That we can save ourselves. 

That’s what the eating of the fruit 

Of the forbidden tree is about. 

That Adam and eve could be Godlike, 

Could be those who save themselves. 

And so we see here in this account 

From the Gospel of Luke how all of that 

Really is shown so very powerfully. 

For it begins, we see here, by announcing 

Those who are in power, who have possessions, 

Who have different positions. 

Caesar Augustus, the great emperor, 

Quirinius, Herod, all of those who in some way 

Have control of the situation to the point 

Where in fact Mary and Joseph have to move 

From their home in Nazareth to come to Bethlehem 

To be counted. 

Great Caesar looks upon people as his cattle, 

As his possessions, as those who are to be accounted. 

They also are a family that seems 

To have nothing in possession. 

But we also see that about the shepherds as well. 

Here they’re living, as we’re told, 

In the darkness of the night, 

Where there is great jeopardy and risk 

Of wolves and bandits that can prey upon them 

And steal their sheep. 

There are also those who are outcasts. 

They have to live outside of the city in the field. 

They’re really not looked upon with any kind of respect. 

And to be honest, they don’t smell too good. 

The holy father pointed this out when he told 

That pastors that they needed to have the smell 

Of the sheep on them. 

That came from an experience that he had 

When he was a superior of a community 

In Argentina as a Jesuit. 

As they had farm animals there, 

He noticed that one of the newborn lambs 

Was being rejected by his mother. 

And so he told one of the young seminarians 

That he had to care for that sheep, 

Take the sheep to his room and feed it 

And care for it because otherwise 

It wouldn’t survive. 

But as that seminarian did that 

And then would come into the refectory 

Or the chapel, everybody knew he was on his way 

Because they could smell him as he walked into the room. 

So the shepherds also are those who represent 

That human weakness, the frailty, 

The incompleteness of life, 

The ways in which they live in jeopardy 

And also are not counted as important. 

So too the holy family. 

They’re those who not only are counted 

Like sheep or like cattle by the great Caesar, 

But they also come to a place 

Where there is no room in the inn. 

They’re homeless people. 

They can only wrap their newborn child in rags 

And swaddling clothes. 

And we notice later that Herod will pursue them 

Because he wants to do away with this newborn king. 

So both the shepherds and the holy family 

Call us to remember that God has taken on our flesh 

To help us understand what it means to be human 

And to accept our humanity, 

To accept our vulnerability, 

Our limitations and yes, our mortality. 

Because when we do so, 

We open ourselves up to the realization 

That God does come to save us. 

He not only comes to save us, but he makes us his own. 

But when we try to pursue our own salvation 

On our own terms of possessions and positions and power, 

We find ourselves always fretting about things, 

Always anxious and worrying. 

It seems that no matter how much money we have 

Or power we have, it’s never enough 

Because we still wonder if we can save ourselves. 

So as we come here on Christmas day, 

It is an opportunity to accept the freedom 

Of God’s salvation for us, 

To put aside the anxiety and the worry 

And also the temptation to save ourselves 

And to realize that we identify with these shepherds. 

We identify with the holy family. 

We’re indeed very poor. 

We are dependent on God. 

But that should in no way discourage us, 

But free us, liberate us, 

Always to turn to God in our need and our limitations, 

In our sickness and moments of want, 

And realize that God has come to save us 

In a very determined way. 

And notice that it is not just good news 

For the people who hear this on the first Christmas night. 

No, the heavens themselves ring with the praise 

Of the glory of God for what takes place. 

Yes, Caesar may want to count Mary and joseph 

And the people who are poor, 

But God tells each one of them and to each one of us 

That we count in his eyes. 

And so today, as we look at this wonderful scene 

Of the Christ child in the manger, 

Wrapped in swaddling clothes 

And the angels telling the shepherds to go to Bethlehem 

To see this great thing, 

We too should come to Bethlehem. 

We too should be willing to stand at the crib 

And look upon this newborn child and see ourselves 

And remember that God has come into the world 

Taking on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

 

It’s often been said that God sent his son 

Into the world to take on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

How to be human beings who live with our mortality, 

Our weaknesses, our vulnerability, 

And everything that is involved with the 

Conditional aspects of our lives, 

Where we also begin to see that we cannot save ourselves. 

Because the real temptation from the very beginning 

Of creation, as we saw in the genesis account, 

Is humanity’s temptation to give in to that temptation 

That we can save ourselves. 

That’s what the eating of the fruit 

Of the forbidden tree is about. 

That Adam and eve could be Godlike, 

Could be those who save themselves. 

And so we see here in this account 

From the Gospel of Luke how all of that 

Really is shown so very powerfully. 

For it begins, we see here, by announcing 

Those who are in power, who have possessions, 

Who have different positions. 

Caesar Augustus, the great emperor, 

Quirinius, Herod, all of those who in some way 

Have control of the situation to the point 

Where in fact Mary and Joseph have to move 

From their home in Nazareth to come to Bethlehem 

To be counted. 

Great Caesar looks upon people as his cattle, 

As his possessions, as those who are to be accounted. 

They also are a family that seems 

To have nothing in possession. 

But we also see that about the shepherds as well. 

Here they’re living, as we’re told, 

In the darkness of the night, 

Where there is great jeopardy and risk 

Of wolves and bandits that can prey upon them 

And steal their sheep. 

There are also those who are outcasts. 

They have to live outside of the city in the field. 

They’re really not looked upon with any kind of respect. 

And to be honest, they don’t smell too good. 

The holy father pointed this out when he told 

That pastors that they needed to have the smell 

Of the sheep on them. 

That came from an experience that he had 

When he was a superior of a community 

In Argentina as a Jesuit. 

As they had farm animals there, 

He noticed that one of the newborn lambs 

Was being rejected by his mother. 

And so he told one of the young seminarians 

That he had to care for that sheep, 

Take the sheep to his room and feed it 

And care for it because otherwise 

It wouldn’t survive. 

But as that seminarian did that 

And then would come into the refectory 

Or the chapel, everybody knew he was on his way 

Because they could smell him as he walked into the room. 

So the shepherds also are those who represent 

That human weakness, the frailty, 

The incompleteness of life, 

The ways in which they live in jeopardy 

And also are not counted as important. 

So too the holy family. 

They’re those who not only are counted 

Like sheep or like cattle by the great Caesar, 

But they also come to a place 

Where there is no room in the inn. 

They’re homeless people. 

They can only wrap their newborn child in rags 

And swaddling clothes. 

And we notice later that Herod will pursue them 

Because he wants to do away with this newborn king. 

So both the shepherds and the holy family 

Call us to remember that God has taken on our flesh 

To help us understand what it means to be human 

And to accept our humanity, 

To accept our vulnerability, 

Our limitations and yes, our mortality. 

Because when we do so, 

We open ourselves up to the realization 

That God does come to save us. 

He not only comes to save us, but he makes us his own. 

But when we try to pursue our own salvation 

On our own terms of possessions and positions and power, 

We find ourselves always fretting about things, 

Always anxious and worrying. 

It seems that no matter how much money we have 

Or power we have, it’s never enough 

Because we still wonder if we can save ourselves. 

So as we come here on Christmas day, 

It is an opportunity to accept the freedom 

Of God’s salvation for us, 

To put aside the anxiety and the worry 

And also the temptation to save ourselves 

And to realize that we identify with these shepherds. 

We identify with the holy family. 

We’re indeed very poor. 

We are dependent on God. 

But that should in no way discourage us, 

But free us, liberate us, 

Always to turn to God in our need and our limitations, 

In our sickness and moments of want, 

And realize that God has come to save us 

In a very determined way. 

And notice that it is not just good news 

For the people who hear this on the first Christmas night. 

No, the heavens themselves ring with the praise 

Of the glory of God for what takes place. 

Yes, Caesar may want to count Mary and joseph 

And the people who are poor, 

But God tells each one of them and to each one of us 

That we count in his eyes. 

And so today, as we look at this wonderful scene 

Of the Christ child in the manger, 

Wrapped in swaddling clothes 

And the angels telling the shepherds to go to Bethlehem 

To see this great thing, 

We too should come to Bethlehem. 

We too should be willing to stand at the crib 

And look upon this newborn child and see ourselves 

And remember that God has come into the world 

Taking on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

 

It’s often been said that God sent his son 

Into the world to take on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

How to be human beings who live with our mortality, 

Our weaknesses, our vulnerability, 

And everything that is involved with the 

Conditional aspects of our lives, 

Where we also begin to see that we cannot save ourselves. 

Because the real temptation from the very beginning 

Of creation, as we saw in the genesis account, 

Is humanity’s temptation to give in to that temptation 

That we can save ourselves. 

That’s what the eating of the fruit 

Of the forbidden tree is about. 

That Adam and eve could be Godlike, 

Could be those who save themselves. 

And so we see here in this account 

From the Gospel of Luke how all of that 

Really is shown so very powerfully. 

For it begins, we see here, by announcing 

Those who are in power, who have possessions, 

Who have different positions. 

Caesar Augustus, the great emperor, 

Quirinius, Herod, all of those who in some way 

Have control of the situation to the point 

Where in fact Mary and Joseph have to move 

From their home in Nazareth to come to Bethlehem 

To be counted. 

Great Caesar looks upon people as his cattle, 

As his possessions, as those who are to be accounted. 

They also are a family that seems 

To have nothing in possession. 

But we also see that about the shepherds as well. 

Here they’re living, as we’re told, 

In the darkness of the night, 

Where there is great jeopardy and risk 

Of wolves and bandits that can prey upon them 

And steal their sheep. 

There are also those who are outcasts. 

They have to live outside of the city in the field. 

They’re really not looked upon with any kind of respect. 

And to be honest, they don’t smell too good. 

The holy father pointed this out when he told 

That pastors that they needed to have the smell 

Of the sheep on them. 

That came from an experience that he had 

When he was a superior of a community 

In Argentina as a Jesuit. 

As they had farm animals there, 

He noticed that one of the newborn lambs 

Was being rejected by his mother. 

And so he told one of the young seminarians 

That he had to care for that sheep, 

Take the sheep to his room and feed it 

And care for it because otherwise 

It wouldn’t survive. 

But as that seminarian did that 

And then would come into the refectory 

Or the chapel, everybody knew he was on his way 

Because they could smell him as he walked into the room. 

So the shepherds also are those who represent 

That human weakness, the frailty, 

The incompleteness of life, 

The ways in which they live in jeopardy 

And also are not counted as important. 

So too the holy family. 

They’re those who not only are counted 

Like sheep or like cattle by the great Caesar, 

But they also come to a place 

Where there is no room in the inn. 

They’re homeless people. 

They can only wrap their newborn child in rags 

And swaddling clothes. 

And we notice later that Herod will pursue them 

Because he wants to do away with this newborn king. 

So both the shepherds and the holy family 

Call us to remember that God has taken on our flesh 

To help us understand what it means to be human 

And to accept our humanity, 

To accept our vulnerability, 

Our limitations and yes, our mortality. 

Because when we do so, 

We open ourselves up to the realization 

That God does come to save us. 

He not only comes to save us, but he makes us his own. 

But when we try to pursue our own salvation 

On our own terms of possessions and positions and power, 

We find ourselves always fretting about things, 

Always anxious and worrying. 

It seems that no matter how much money we have 

Or power we have, it’s never enough 

Because we still wonder if we can save ourselves. 

So as we come here on Christmas day, 

It is an opportunity to accept the freedom 

Of God’s salvation for us, 

To put aside the anxiety and the worry 

And also the temptation to save ourselves 

And to realize that we identify with these shepherds. 

We identify with the holy family. 

We’re indeed very poor. 

We are dependent on God. 

But that should in no way discourage us, 

But free us, liberate us, 

Always to turn to God in our need and our limitations, 

In our sickness and moments of want, 

And realize that God has come to save us 

In a very determined way. 

And notice that it is not just good news 

For the people who hear this on the first Christmas night. 

No, the heavens themselves ring with the praise 

Of the glory of God for what takes place. 

Yes, Caesar may want to count Mary and joseph 

And the people who are poor, 

But God tells each one of them and to each one of us 

That we count in his eyes. 

And so today, as we look at this wonderful scene 

Of the Christ child in the manger, 

Wrapped in swaddling clothes 

And the angels telling the shepherds to go to Bethlehem 

To see this great thing, 

We too should come to Bethlehem. 

We too should be willing to stand at the crib 

And look upon this newborn child and see ourselves 

And remember that God has come into the world 

Taking on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

 

It’s often been said that God sent his son 

Into the world to take on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings. 

How to be human beings who live with our mortality, 

Our weaknesses, our vulnerability, 

And everything that is involved with the 

Conditional aspects of our lives, 

Where we also begin to see that we cannot save ourselves. 

Because the real temptation from the very beginning 

Of creation, as we saw in the genesis account, 

Is humanity’s temptation to give in to that temptation 

That we can save ourselves. 

That’s what the eating of the fruit 

Of the forbidden tree is about. 

That Adam and eve could be Godlike, 

Could be those who save themselves. 

And so we see here in this account 

From the Gospel of Luke how all of that 

Really is shown so very powerfully. 

For it begins, we see here, by announcing 

Those who are in power, who have possessions, 

Who have different positions. 

Caesar Augustus, the great emperor, 

Quirinius, Herod, all of those who in some way 

Have control of the situation to the point 

Where in fact Mary and Joseph have to move 

From their home in Nazareth to come to Bethlehem 

To be counted. 

Great Caesar looks upon people as his cattle, 

As his possessions, as those who are to be accounted. 

They also are a family that seems 

To have nothing in possession. 

But we also see that about the shepherds as well. 

Here they’re living, as we’re told, 

In the darkness of the night, 

Where there is great jeopardy and risk 

Of wolves and bandits that can prey upon them 

And steal their sheep. 

There are also those who are outcasts. 

They have to live outside of the city in the field. 

They’re really not looked upon with any kind of respect. 

And to be honest, they don’t smell too good. 

The holy father pointed this out when he told 

That pastors that they needed to have the smell 

Of the sheep on them. 

That came from an experience that he had 

When he was a superior of a community 

In Argentina as a Jesuit. 

As they had farm animals there, 

He noticed that one of the newborn lambs 

Was being rejected by his mother. 

And so he told one of the young seminarians 

That he had to care for that sheep, 

Take the sheep to his room and feed it 

And care for it because otherwise 

It wouldn’t survive. 

But as that seminarian did that 

And then would come into the refectory 

Or the chapel, everybody knew he was on his way 

Because they could smell him as he walked into the room. 

So the shepherds also are those who represent 

That human weakness, the frailty, 

The incompleteness of life, 

The ways in which they live in jeopardy 

And also are not counted as important. 

So too the holy family. 

They’re those who not only are counted 

Like sheep or like cattle by the great Caesar, 

But they also come to a place 

Where there is no room in the inn. 

They’re homeless people. 

They can only wrap their newborn child in rags 

And swaddling clothes. 

And we notice later that Herod will pursue them 

Because he wants to do away with this newborn king. 

So both the shepherds and the holy family 

Call us to remember that God has taken on our flesh 

To help us understand what it means to be human 

And to accept our humanity, 

To accept our vulnerability, 

Our limitations and yes, our mortality. 

Because when we do so, 

We open ourselves up to the realization 

That God does come to save us. 

He not only comes to save us, but he makes us his own. 

But when we try to pursue our own salvation 

On our own terms of possessions and positions and power, 

We find ourselves always fretting about things, 

Always anxious and worrying. 

It seems that no matter how much money we have 

Or power we have, it’s never enough 

Because we still wonder if we can save ourselves. 

So as we come here on Christmas day, 

It is an opportunity to accept the freedom 

Of God’s salvation for us, 

To put aside the anxiety and the worry 

And also the temptation to save ourselves 

And to realize that we identify with these shepherds. 

We identify with the holy family. 

We’re indeed very poor. 

We are dependent on God. 

But that should in no way discourage us, 

But free us, liberate us, 

Always to turn to God in our need and our limitations, 

In our sickness and moments of want, 

And realize that God has come to save us 

In a very determined way. 

And notice that it is not just good news 

For the people who hear this on the first Christmas night. 

No, the heavens themselves ring with the praise 

Of the glory of God for what takes place. 

Yes, Caesar may want to count Mary and joseph 

And the people who are poor, 

But God tells each one of them and to each one of us 

That we count in his eyes. 

And so today, as we look at this wonderful scene 

Of the Christ child in the manger, 

Wrapped in swaddling clothes 

And the angels telling the shepherds to go to Bethlehem 

To see this great thing, 

We too should come to Bethlehem. 

We too should be willing to stand at the crib 

And look upon this newborn child and see ourselves 

And remember that God has come into the world 

Taking on our human flesh, 

Not to teach us how to be God, 

But how to be human beings.