"She Pondered Them in Her Heart"

(Luke 2:1-20) (Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ)
From St. Luke, we hear the wondrous story of the humble birth of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ: the circumstances of worldly affairs that caused prophecies to be fulfilled; how there was no room for His mother and father at the inn, and so He was born in a stable, and laid in a manger. We hear of the angelic hosts singing of Him, and proclaiming the good news of His birth to shepherds; and of these shepherds drawn to find Him, praising God when they behold Him. And we hear how His mother, the most-blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-virgin, Mary, “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

She undoubtedly remembered that the angel had told her she would conceive, and bear a son; and now she had done just that, as it had been foretold to her. She heard of the heavenly hosts gathered to praise this Child she had borne, now resting in a manger; heard this from the shepherds who had come to see for themselves. She undoubtedly remembered the incredible words she had heard from the angel of the Annunciation: that the Child she had borne is the Son of God.

We, too, should ponder on these things, even as we prepare to sing His praises with the angels, and to celebrate His birth. We should remind ourselves that what the archangel Gabriel promised has come to pass. We should consider that it is our Lord Jesus Christ Who brings peace to us on earth – peace between us and God; and the potential for peace between each of us all. We should also consider that He is the good will of God for us; that God provides for our every need, because He Who has made us, loves each and every one of us, so much so that the Son of God took on our human nature, becoming one with us, identifying Himself fully and completely with us, to be the author of our salvation, and to restore us to communion with God, lost so long ago in the Garden of Eden. This is good news, and should bring us joy.

Pondering on these things should change who we are; and this change becomes known by a difference in what we do: praying and fasting; giving to meet the needs of others that flows from the love of God in us; and pursuing virtue instead of our passions. As did Mary, the Lady Theotokos, we, too, should consider all that we have seen and heard; and store all these things in our hearts, with the fervent prayer that our hearts and minds might thereby be changed; and our souls saved – to the glory of Him Whose birth we celebrate with joy.