Divine Sonship
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[4] But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" [7] So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.
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Commentary:
4. The original text says literally that he “was made from woman”: St Paul, who so often speaks of Jesus’ divinity, here emphasizes that he was truly man: Jesus did not suddenly appear on earth in a kind of heavenly apparition; he really became man in the way that he did, taking on human nature in the pure womb of a woman. This distinguishes his eternal generation (his divine condition, his pre-existence as the Word) from his birth in time: Jesus, as God, is mysteriously begotten, not made, by the Father from all eternity; as man, however, he is born, “was made”, of the Virgin Mary.
St Gregory Nazianzen comments on this by saying that “the Son of God in person, he who exists from all eternity, he who is invisible, incomprehensible, incorporeal, light from light, source of life and immortality, expression of the supreme Archetype, immutable seal, most faithful image, term and measure of the Father: he it is who comes to the aid of his image; out of love for man he became man, out of love for my soul he unites himself to an intellectual soul, except for sin; conceived by the Virgin, whose body and soul the Holy Spirit had earlier purified” (Sermon 54, 9). Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, by becoming the Mother of Jesus Christ, who is truly God, is truly the Mother of God, as the Council of Ephesus later defined” “If anyone does not profess that Emmanuel is truly God and that the Holy Virgin is, therefore, the Mother of God (for she gave birth in the flesh to the Word of God made flesh): let him be anathema (Dz-Sch, 252).
This mystery has been beautifully described by St. Josemaria Escriva in these terms: “When the blessed Virgin said Yes, freely, to the plans revealed to her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature—a rational soul and a body, which was formed in the pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and the human were united in a single Person—Jesus Christ, true God and, thenceforth, true Man, the only-begotten and eternal son of the Father and, from that moment on, as Man, the true Son of Mary. This is why our Lady is the Mother of the Incarnate Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity who has united our human nature to himself for ever, without any confusion of the two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address her loud and clear by the name that expresses her very highest dignity—Mother of God” (Friends of God, 274).
6. Abba is an Aramaic word which has come down to us with its translation "Father". As can be deduced from Mt 14:36 (cf. note on Lk 11:1), this is the same word as our Lord used in his personal prayer. However, it is not a word ever used by Jews to address God, probably because it contains the kind of trust and tenderness that small children have in their dealings with their father. Jesus, however, did not hesitate to use it and to encourage his followers to use it. In this way he invites us to relate to God with the trust and tenderness of a child towards its father--as well he might, because by redeeming us Christ not only freed us from the yoke of the Law but enabled us to have a new relationship to God, to be God's sons and daughters. St Paul echoes this teaching (cf. also Rom 8:16-17) and attributes to the Holy Spirit that movement in man's heart which impels him to cry out, full of love and hope, "Abba! Father!"
This all means that "if we have a constant relationship with the Holy Spirit, we shall become spiritual ourselves, we shall realize that we are Christ's brothers and children of God, and we shall not hesitate to call upon our Father [...]. Words cannot go so far as the heart, which is moved by God's goodness. He says to us, 'You are my son.' Not a stranger, not a well-treated servant, not a friend--that would be a lot already. A son! He gives us free access to treat him as sons, with a son's piety and I would even say with the boldness and daring of a son whose Father cannot deny him anything" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 136 and 185).
In this verse we can see the roles of the three Divine Persons in man's supernatural life. The Father sends the Holy Spirit, here called "the Spirit of his Son", to help us activate our gift of divine sonship.
The Adoration of the Shepherds (Continuation)
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[15] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened to us, which the Lord has made known to us." [16] And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. [17] And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
The Circumcision of Jesus
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[21] And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angels before he was conceived in the womb.
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Commentary:
15-18. The birth of the Savior Messiah is the key event in the history of mankind, but God wanted it to take place so quietly that the world went about its business as if nothing had happened. The only people he tells about it are a few shepherds. It was also to a shepherd, Abraham, that God gave his promise to save mankind.
The shepherds make their way to Bethlehem propelled by the sign they have received. And when they verify it they tell what they heard from the angel and about seeing the heavenly host. They are the first witnesses of the birth of the Messiah. "The shepherds were not content with believing in the happy event which the angel proclaimed to them and which, full of wonder, they saw for a fact; they manifested their joy not only to Mary and Joseph but to everyone and, what is more, they tried to engrave it on their memory. 'And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.' And why would they not have wondered, seeing on earth him who is in heaven, and earth and heaven reconciled; seeing that ineffable Child who joined what was heavenly--divinity—and what was earthly--humanity--creating a wonderful covenant through this union. Not only were they in awe at the mystery of the Incarnation, but also at the great testimony born by the shepherds, who could not have invented something they had not heard and who publish the truth with a simple eloquence" (Photius, "Ad Amphilochium", 155).
16. The shepherds hasten because they are full of joy and eager to see the Savior. St Ambrose comments: "No one seeks Christ halfheartedly" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam., in loc."). Earlier on, the evangelist observed that our Lady, after the Annunciation, "went in haste" to see St Elizabeth (Lk 1:39). A soul who has given God entry rejoices that God has visited him and his life acquires new energy.
19. In very few words this verse tells us a great deal about our Lady. We see the serenity with which she contemplates the wonderful things that are coming true with the birth of her divine Son. She studies them, ponders them and stores them in the silence of her heart. She is a true teacher of prayer. If we imitate her, if we guard and ponder in our hearts what Jesus says to us and what he does in us, we are well on the way to Christian holiness and we shall never lack his doctrine and his grace. Also, by meditating in this way on the teaching Jesus has given us, we shall obtain a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ, which is how "the Tradition that comes from the Apostles makes progress in the Church, with the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a growth in insight into the realities and words that are being passed on. This comes about in various ways. It comes through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts. It comes from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which they experience. And it comes from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 8).
21. On the meaning and rite of circumcision, see the note on Lk 1:59.
{Note on Lk 1:59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of the child.
With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.
St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and Colossians 2:11ff.}
"Jesus" means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation", that is, Savior. This name was given the Child not as the result of any human decision but in keeping with the commandment of God which the angel communicated to the Blessed Virgin and to St Joseph (cf. Lk 1:31; Mk 1:21).
The Son of God became incarnate in order to redeem and save all men; so it is very fitting that he be called Jesus, Savior. We confess this in the Creed: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven." "There were indeed many who were called by this name [...]. But how much more appropriate it is to call by this name our Savior, who brought light, liberty and salvation, not to one people only, but to all men, of all ages--to men oppressed, not by famine, or Egyptian or Babylonian bondage, but sitting in the shadow of death and fettered by the galling chains of sin and of the devil" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 36).