PRAYER BEFORE A MANGER SCENE
by Father Peter John Cameron, O. P.
Lord Jesus, as I kneel before
your manger in adoration, let my first Christmas word be thank you. Thank you, Gift
of the Father, for coming to save me from my sins.
Without you I do not know
even how to be human. The characteristics
of your human body express the divine person of God’s Son. And in that wondrous
expression, Lord, you reveal me to myself.
Thank you for that saving revelation in your sacred humanity. As the
Christmas liturgy proclaims, “in Christ man restores to man the gift of
everlasting life.” Thank you for coming as one like myself to save me from
myself.
You came as a baby because
babies are irresistible and adorable.
You come as a baby because you want our first impression of God
incarnate to be that of one who does not judge.
How I long to be united with you in every way. May I never be attracted to the allurements
and charms of the world. May I love you
always, at every moment, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. May the tenderness, the dependency, and the
mercy that you reveal in your infancy become the hallmarks of my life.
Newborn Savior, the very
silence of your Incarnation proclaims that the answer to the misery, the
strife, and the meaninglessness of life cannot be found within us. You alone are the Answer. As I kneel before you, eternal King, I
surrender to you in all my selfishness, self-absorption, self-indulgence,
self-righteousness, self-assert, and self-exaltation. Even as I adore you on this night of your
birth, rid me of the nagging desire to be adored.
Word become flesh, you make
your dwelling among us. Yet you do not
live your life for yourself, but for us.
And you enable us to live in you all that you yourselves lived. Help me to embrace this truth with all my mind
and heart. Come and live your life in me.
Empty me of my willfulness, my petulance, my hardness, my cynicism, my
contemptuousness. Fill me with your truth, your strength, your fortitude, your
purity, your gentleness, your generosity, your wisdom, your heart, and your
grace.
O Emmanuel, may the assurance
of your unfailing Presence be for me, the source of unending peace. May I never fear my weakness, my inadequacy,
or my imperfection. Rather, as I gave
with faith, hope and love upon your incarnate littleness, may I love my own
littleness, for God is with us. Endow my
life with a holy wonder that leads me every more deeply into the Mystery of
Redemption and the meaning of my vocation and destiny.
Longed-for Messiah, your
servant Saint Leo the Great well wrote that in the very act of reverencing the
birth of our Savior, we are also celebrating our own new birth. From this night on may my life be a dedicated
life of faith, marked by holy reliance, receptivity, and resoluteness. May I make of my life a total gift of
self.
May my humble worship of your
nativity manifest how much I seek the Father’s kingship and his way of
holiness. The beauty of your holy face
bears the promise that your Father will provide for us in all things. This Christmas I renew my trust in God’s
goodness, compassion, and providence. I
long for the day when you will teach us to pray “Our Father.”
May your Presence, Prince of Peace, bless the world with peace, the
poor with care and prosperity, the despairing with hope and confidence, the
grieving with comfort and gladness, the oppressed with freedom and deliverance,
the suffering with solace and relief.
Loving Jesus, you are the only real joy of every human heart. I place my trust in you.
Oh divine Fruit of Mary’s
womb, may I love you in union with the holy Mother of God. May my life be filled with the obedience of Saint Joseph
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