In chapter 2, the evangelist Luke simply says this: «[Maria] gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the lodging» (Lk 2:7). After speaking about and describing the birth of Jesus, he captures another scene, featuring the shepherds. They receive the first announcement: «Do not be afraid: behold, I announce to you great joy, which will be for all the people: today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you, who is Christ the Lord» (Lk 2:10-11).
Historically, shepherds belonged to the category of great sinners because they practiced a profession considered contemptible. They were very quarrelsome and aggressive people; they did not hesitate to invade other people's fields with their flocks, steal one another's water, or kill one another over problems related to territory and grazing; they kept part of the proceeds from exploiting the sheep for themselves. They did not even observe the Sabbath rest. They were therefore considered outcasts, people to be avoided because they were unreliable.
To them, Luke says, the birth of the Savior is announced. To these unfaithful, outlawed, lying, violent, unscrupulous people, who certainly also had very complicated and difficult lives.
Sometimes that is what happens to us too: life is much more complicated than we could have imagined, it is very difficult, and at times it seems to take everything away from us; people often react with violence because of certain hardships they have experienced in life.
In the face of all this, it is important to remember that God always sees our suffering and our loneliness. In pain, fear, doubt, misery, anger, and everything that humiliates us, we are seen by God.
God prefers what man would not choose, and the shepherds in particular; with God, we witness an overturning of our scales of importance: He prefers the poor in spirit, those who lack something, those who lack patience, like the shepherds, those who lack the ability to love, and those who lack the ability to forgive.
If today we find some shortcomings in our lives, in the face of these shortcomings we can be sure that God is choosing us, and that we are among those strange, unusual objects of God's preference.
This is why the figure of the shepherds portrays us so well and invites us to set out and accept that, amid discomfort, we can enter into a serious dialogue with the Lord Jesus and receive salvation from him, because today the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, has been born for us.
You can read the complete meditation, together with those about the other Nativity figures, and prepare with them for Holy Christmas in the book: Novena for Christmas.
