God. There we may find the truth of the mystery and discover how Jesus Christ begins to be formed in the interior. We find an infant in simplicity, candor, and innocence where we may be formed in the will of God. Such a soul no longer has its own proper freedom and will but loses herself in this generous freedom because she may choose this divine will which holds her together and makes this happen. Finally, she too is lying in a manger. She is in an unvarying repose, in which nothing may trouble her. But as she appears to be in a manger, she finds nothing in herself except a stupid strangeness. This is the state that David experiences, when he said, I was stupid and ignorant toward you; I was like a brute beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand (Psalm 73:22–23). The soul resembles a beast, in entire powerlessness, but she is always attached to God in an unchanging repose.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke 2:13–14)
One cannot express the joy in heaven than happens when Jesus Christ is born in a heart. At the time of the temporal birth of Jesus Christ, all the angels joyfully praised God. They do the same when Jesus Christ is born in hearts. O divine infant! You are born within hearts that do not oppose you! Come and be born in all our hearts. You came to be born in a stable in the fullness of time. In our hearts we also have the fullness of time. Therefore come be born in all hearts. If our hearts are like an empty stable and a waiting manger, Jesus Christ will not delay in coming. Jesus Christ was refused in all the houses in Bethlehem, and he was not born in them because they were all full and did not have a place for him. The same happens with our hearts if they are full. Jesus Christ will not be born there. There are only a few empty stables where he will be born and live, some annihilated souls who are like this poor stable, exposed to all contrary winds and persecution. But during this, he will be born in stables while the palaces are full and he will find no place for him. Oh, petite and annihilated souls are happy! You have a well-being that all the other souls refuse. They prefer their own fullness to the emptiness of poverty. This is why Jesus Christ is not born there.
The angels praise and glorify God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven!” They say this because the glory of God is found in the highest place in the soul. It is the superior part of the souls that may fully glorify God. And according to the measure that it can glorify God, peace is made on earth, that is to say, the passions are calmed, so that nothing may trouble them. These double marvels operate in the souls of those of good will who is a soul who gives to God all her own will, which is the only thing that may make us good. Therefore she finds in herself the glory that God places in his saints in heaven that consists of perfect union with joined wills. And the perfect peace of those souls who belong to Jesus Christ in a special manner are possessed by him on earth.
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” (Luke 2:15)
The angels announce the news of the place where Jesus Christ is born. Apostolic people also announce peace to souls of good will who search for Jesus Christ. These angels, though, are only the announcer. After this, they leave to show that it is Jesus Christ who does the rest. It is he who must be sought. If the angels had not left, good yet simple people would be arrested by the pleasures of the sight and sound of the angels, and not look for Jesus Christ. The Word that came from God carries souls so they do not stop at anything created, but they go directly to Jesus Christ to search in the manger, that is, the heart. It would make this experience little if after being told of the birth of Jesus Christ, these apostolic people did not want to taste and participate in this happy experience. This is why the shepherds, faithful to the grace that has been announced to them, say, “Let us now go to Bethlehem” which means enter into our heart and see, taste, experience, this thing that has taken place. O Word that has no beginning! O Word begotten through all eternity in the bosom of our Father! You have made an eternal Word wholly human in the womb of Mary, in the sacrament, and in the hearts of human beings. It is in our heart that we must seek, as in the stable, this Word that has been made. Go, go, my very dear brothers and sisters, taste this Word that is within you. Search for the divine Word, because God wants us to discover this way announced by the angels in the place where he inhabits. Oh, the great advantage to discover God within us! All happiness in life depends on this discovery alone. The great good announced by the angels is to discover God within us for it is the greatest grace to learn to know God within. If we search, God makes this known to us as an extraordinary gift.
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what they had been told them about this child. (Luke 2:16–17)
The shepherds promptly go to look for that which had been told them, which shows the graces they had received. Like them, we must not delay when we seek Jesus Christ. When the shepherds went to find Jesus Christ, they found Mary and Jesus Christ, the mother and the child. We also discover the mystery of this holy family: like these innocent souls, we know them through our interior. It is there that we discover them. Nothing is said of the state of Mary and Joseph because the immense grandeur of their interior state does not permit us to speak. It is necessary to come to Jesus Christ to know and discern Mary and Joseph. It is the Son who gives intelligence about these profound states of these holy parents. The state of Mary and Joseph was an entirely interior state. O admirable uncreated Trinity! Who could ever speak of the sacred communion you had with the uncreated Trinity? These three holy people spent thirty years in a continual silence, in a communication that was entirely of the heart. There was a movement and response continually between them. Jesus Christ communicated continually with Mary, and Mary with Joseph. They gave to each other in the state of holy purity that they had received.
O the advantage of the interior life! There we discover the infant lying in the manger. That is to say, we discover in the interior this divine infant, who reposes in the foundation and center of the soul. He reposes so he can communicate his infant simplicity and his innocence. We can only comprehend this mystery by experience. Also, scripture tells us, that when they saw this, they made known what they had been told them about this child. As soon as the soul wants this experience, and she goes into her foundation to search for this, she proves the truth of what has been said, and tries to express the truth of this. O all of you who have difficulty believing this, experience this. You will discover Jesus Christ in your foundation and you will prove many times over what this scripture says.
And all who heard were amazed at what the shepherds had told them. (Luke 2:18)
Nothing arouses so much admiration as seeing this discovery by simple people. We know and believe how the simple are susceptible to impressions of grace, as it is written in that God says, “You who are simple, turn in here!” (Proverbs 9:4). Simple people who are susceptible to the impressions of grace have a singular privilege and a gift to communicate to others that the wise do not have. In this experience, we are filled with admiration.
But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)
Mary who is the realized model of the truly interior soul pondered these words in her heart. Scripture does not say that she thought these things in her mind, although the mind is the source of thought. We see that in her heart she discerned and distinguished these things, not by the reflections of the mind. She ponders these things in herself in a profound silence and understands much more than she expresses.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:20)
Souls who have experienced this know so clearly that everything they have been told will happen. This charms them and ravishes them with admiration.
After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)
