 The Manger, a reflection
by Rev. Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi
In Christmas cribs and cards, we often see trough. Trough brings us
back to those younger days when we worked with troughs as we had to feed
the pigs and cattle in our gardens. This is something familiar to us.
It is with this familiarity that we walk to the Manger of the Lord in
Bethlehem. There at the Manger of Bethlehem we find a group of visitors
who have already come before us. That is the band of shepherds - the
lucky ones who received the Good News from the Angel.
Salvation
Unlike their ancestors, the people of Israel unfaithful to God; these
shepherds have come in haste to the Lord and His Manger. They have
reversed the prophecy of Isaiah 1,3 where God laments, "The ox knows its
owner; and the donkey knows the phatne of its Lord; but Israel has not
known me; my people have not understood me." They, God's people, at
last, come to know, understand and recognise their Lord and His manger.
Now they accept the salvation offered by God.
What do we and the visiting shepherds see in the Manger? Some animal
food or water? No, it is a babe, the Babe of Bethlehem, the Infant
Jesus, wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid down by His Mother. This
Child is our food.
 He in the Manger is the sustenance of the whole world. He is the food
of the humanity starving for redemption. Indeed, Jesus sustains the
starving humanity - the humanity starving for redemption. In future,
Jesus will say, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this
in memory of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be
shed for you" (Luke 22,19-20). He will thus give Himself to us as our
food. On the Cross, He will accomplish this with His Body broken and
Blood shed. The Cross thus becomes the Manger, the place of sustenance.
Christmas night
On Christmas night, we find a manger where Jesus is laid. This manger
walks into the Church on the vigil and in a few days, it walks away from
the Church. We may see it again only in the Christmas of next year. Thus
this manger is only a passing reality. Nevertheless there is a manger
that does not pass away. There is a perennial manger that does not walk
away from the Church.
That's the Altar. On this Altar, the bread and wine are laid down. At
the consecration, they become the Body and Blood of the Lord. Jesus
comes to be laid down on this Manger, the Altar. Hence let us visit this
Manger every Sunday for our sustenance.
Courtesy: The Messenger
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