Fr. Voigt: Have You Enrolled?
Enroll now! St. Joseph and our Lady must go to Bethlehem, the House of Bread, in order to enroll themselves for the census of the whole Roman Political world. The Peace of Rome offered the perfect opportunity for all to enroll in their city of origin. This peace and this enrollment were no accidents but part of the cosmic scheme of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. All must enroll because Caesar has ordered it. The world followed the order of the flesh and went to their towns and were counted. But something else is happening as well.
Another enrollment is beginning to take place. It is the eternal enrollment of souls in the kingdom of God. Our Lord came among us in the political enrollment but He came to enroll us in the kingdom which had been wrested from our souls by the act of the evil one. Sin is the reality that breaks our bond with the heart of God and now Grace came to cover the shame of our sin and to re-bond our souls to the Creator. Eternal Love never loses and our souls are the prizes He is after as He enters the womb of the Blessed Mother. Do you wish to enroll in this kingdom?
There is a price to pay for the enrollment in eternity. The cost is measured in the love that we can offer to others. Recognizing the divine child in the suffering of our brothers and sisters in their need. Turning the cheek when offended by those who should know better. Holding our tongues when we
would like to cry out and complain. Yes, there is a price for the
renewal of our souls and someone has to pay.
Can a child pay the price? The light of the world during the midnight hour leaped from the Father's side and through the womb of a virgin entered the world He created. Now He had the virgin's blood to pay the price for the salvation of those souls who would affirm the mystery of the Father's plan.
Yes, it is a mystery that God should become man. It is a mystery of
humiliation which opens the path to the shedding of blood and the ransom
of souls. This babe is destined to be under a Cross throughout his short life time in this sinful world. May the mystery move us for we surely do not understand it at all. What a price to pay for souls who are infested with a poison that does not seem to quit even when we know how much God's love abounds for us.
Imagine the Son of God and Son of Mary desires to pay the price for my eternal love and I so often attach myself to the fleeting pleasures of the world He created. May His grace correct and cleanse me of such silly pursuits and may my soul attach itself to the love of God above all else. Soon it will be Christmas 2015 and may I offer each of you, my fellow Catholics, th e mystery of this moment. It is a moment of lowliness and love. It is a momentof decision. Leave all else behind and follow the Lamb to the sacrificial altar of divine love.
Cry out with all the children of the world: Come Lord Jesus, come!
May each of you grow in the detached spirit of the Christ Child Jesus, his mother Mary and the pure and just Joseph,
My prayers for your intentions and salvation,
Fr. Richard Voigt