The Third Joyful Mystery of the Rosary is the Nativity of the Lord. St. Luke wrote, “And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).
The King of kings could have chosen to be born in a palace in luxury, but he chose to be born in poverty and obscurity. He chose to identify humbly with the poor.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen wrote, “The manger and the Cross thus stand at the two extremities of the Saviour’s life! He accepted the manger because there was no room in the inn; He accepted the Cross because men said, ‘We will not have this Man for our king.’ Disowned upon entering, rejected upon leaving, He was laid in a stranger’s stable at the beginning, and a stranger’s grave at the end. An ox and an ass surrounded His crib at Bethlehem; two thieves were to flank His Cross on Calvary. He was wrapped in swaddling bands in His birthplace, He was again laid in swaddling clothes in His tomb—clothes symbolic of the limitations imposed on His Divinity when He took a human form.”
A Bible commentator pointed out: “Bethlehem means ‘house of bread.’ A manger, mentioned three times by Luke (2:7, 12, 16), is a box where fodder is put to feed livestock. Jesus, the bread of life (John 6:35) begins his infant life in a feed trough, or breadbox.”
In contrast to the simple earthly reality of the birth of Christ is the glorious proclamation of the angel to the shepherds. The angel announced: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11)
Another Bible commentator pointed out that Jesus’ life was introduced in terms of three titles: Saviour points to his role as deliverer; Christ points to his office in terms of the promised Anointed One of God; and Lord indicates his sovereign authority.
The shepherds went in haste and encountered the newborn Christ. Archbishop Sheen wrote, “Only two classes of people found the Babe: the shepherds and the Wise Men; the simple and the learned; those who knew that they knew nothing, and those who knew that they did not know everything. He is never seen by the man of one book; never by the man who thinks he knows. Not even God can tell the proud anything! Only the humble can find God!”
St. Augustine said, “The shepherds were Israelites; the Magi, Gentiles. The first lived nearby; the latter, far away. Yet both came to the cornerstone, Christ”
Commenting on the Christmas Mystery, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become ‘children of God’ we must be ‘born from above’ or ‘born of God.’ Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this ‘marvelous exchange’:
O marvelous exchange! Man’s Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.”
St. Faustina wrote about a mystical experience: “When I started the Holy Hour, I wanted to immerse myself in the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. Then I heard a voice in my soul: Meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation. And suddenly the Infant Jesus appeared before me, radiant with beauty. He told me how much God is pleased with simplicity in a soul: ‘Although my greatness is beyond understanding, I commune only with those who are little. I demand of you a childlike spirit.’”
聖誕教導我們謙遜
玫瑰經的歡喜三端是耶穌聖誕。路加福音寫道：『他們在那裡的時候，她分娩的日期滿了， 便生了她的頭胎男兒，用襁褓裹起，放在馬槽裏，因為在客棧中為他們沒有地方。 』（路2:4-7）
萬君之君本來可選擇誕生於奢華的皇宮中，但祂卻選擇生於貧困，鮮為人知的地方。祂選擇以貧困標識謙遜。
可敬Fulton J. Sheen寫道：『由此，馬糟和十字架站在救世主生命的兩個極端！祂接納了馬糟，因為旅館沒有祂的地方；祂接受了十字架，因為人說「我們不要這個人作我們的君王」來的時候被否認，去的時候被拒絕；開始時祂被到放於陌生人的馬廄，結束時於陌生人的墳墓。在白冷一頭牛，一頭驢環繞祂的床，在加爾瓦略山兩盜樹於兩旁。在祂出生地方，祂被繈褓包裹，在祂墓穴中祂又再被殮布包裹—布是祂取得人性後，對祂天主性的限制的象徵。』
一位釋經者指出：『白冷是「麵包的房屋。」馬糟，路加福音（路2:7,12,16）三次提及，是一個盛載飼料餵養動物的方框。耶穌，這生命之糧（若6:35）上在飼料糟或麵包盒中開始祂嬰孩生命。』
對比著地上基督聖誕的貧困是天使向牧羊人報喜的光榮。天使宣布：『今天在達味城中，為你們誕生了一位救世者，他是主默西亞。 』（路2:11）
另一釋經者指出耶穌的生命可引伸為三個職銜：『救世者』是指祂被派遣的任務；『默西亞』是指祂的職位，那位天主承諾的受傅者；和『主』是指祂的王權。
牧人急忙去了遇見了新生的基督。可敬Fulton J. Sheen寫道：『只有兩類的人找到聖嬰：牧羊人和賢士；簡單的和有學識的；無知的和自知自己智識有限的人。獨孤一味的人, 不會見到耶穌, 自為通天曉的人, 亦不會見到祂。天主不能告訴心高氣傲的人任何事! 只有謙遜的人才會找到天主!』
聖奧斯定說：『牧羊人是以色列人；賢士們，非猶太人。前者住於附近；後者，遙遠。但兩者都來到這基石，基督。』
要解釋聖誕的奧秘，天主教教理表明『在天主前「變成像嬰孩那樣」，乃是進入天國的條件；因此我們必須自謙，變成小孩；而且，還須「由上而生」(若 3:7)，即由天主而生，好「成為天主的子女」(若 1:12)。當基督在我們內「形成」時，聖誕的奧跡就在我們內完成了。聖誕就是這種「奇妙交換」的奧跡：《時辰頌禱禮》，聖誕八日慶期晚禱對經：多麼令人嘆賞的交換！人類的創造者取了有靈的肉軀，甘願生於童貞女，不由人道而出生，將自己天主性賜給了我們。』
聖傅天娜寫有關奧秘的經驗：『當我開始守聖時，我想浸沉於耶穌關橄欖園祈禱的痛苦中。我聽到我靈魂深處的一個聲音：默想聖子降生成人的奧秘。突然耶穌嬰孩出現在我面前，發放著美麗。祂告訴我天主是怎樣喜悅於靈魂的單純：「雖然我的偉大是遠超所能明白的，我只跟那些微小的交流，我要求你一個孩子般的心靈」』