A Special Birth Day Celebration

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Chapter 2
A Special Birth Day Celebration

Our God in heaven sent Archangel Gabriel to earth with two messages. First he told Zechariah the priest that he would have a son and to name his son 'John'. The second message he took to a girl in the small town of Galilee. The second message was one that was never told to anyone before. This girl was going to become the mother of God. Her name was St. Mary.

St. Mary accepted the news the Archangel Gabriel told her by saying, "Behold the maid servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). She was humble in front of God and was willing to let God take full control of her life.

Right after the Archangel left her, St. Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth. She wanted to be with her cousin because her cousin was very old. To have a baby is hard, especially when you are old; so St. Mary went to see how she could help her cousin. Even though St. Mary was going to become the mother of God, she wanted to help other people and never expected others to come to her.

So St. Mary traveled to Zechariah's house to stay with Elizabeth. Do you know what happened when Elizabeth heard St. Mary's voice? The baby in her womb (St. John, who later became St. John the Baptist) jumped up because he was so happy.

Do you know why he was happy? Because he knew that St. Mary was carrying the Lord Jesus, the Son of God; and St. Johns best friend, even before he was born, was our Lord Jesus Christ.

How wonderful for us if every time we go into church and meet our Lord Jesus Christ on the altar, we are full of joy. Just like St. John our best friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are always happy to go to church and see Him and take Him inside of us during the Eucharist Communion.

St. Mary stayed with her cousin Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her home. Before our Lord Jesus Christ was born. The governor at that time wanted to see how many people were in the different cities, this is called a census. Everyone had to go back to the same city where his family came from.

St. Mary had lived in the temple since she was a very small girl. When she was older, she became engaged to a man named Joseph. Joseph's family came from the city called Bethlehem. St. Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to be counted. While they were there, it was time for our Lord Jesus Christ to be born.

So many people were in Bethlehem that there was no room for St. Mary and Joseph to stay in. Every inn or hotel they went to was full and the only place that was available was a manger, a barn where the animals stayed. There in that little manger with the animals, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born.

The people around St. Mary and Joseph did not notice that a great miracle, a wonderful event took place. Nobody understood that the little Baby that was born would die for us so that we could go to heaven one day. This little Babe would be the only way for us to meet God.

The people may not have noticed but the angels that are all around us knew that something very special was going to happen.

In the same place that the Lord Jesus Christ was born, there were some shepherds taking care of their sheep. While they were there, in the middle of the night, they saw an incredible, awesome site. A beautiful angel came before them. It was full of light that comes from the glory of God. The shepherds became very scared.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:10-12).

The angel was telling the shepherds that something great has happened. A baby was born who is the Savior of the whole world. The little Baby was going to save the world from sin and from the devil and all his evil ways. The little Baby was born in the same city as King David and He was in a manger.

Then, suddenly, before the shepherds' eyes, there appeared a multitude of the heavenly angels praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!" (Luke 2:14).

Can you imagine seeing thousands and thousands of angels and all of them praising God and saying, 'Glory to God?' How beautiful that sight must have been. Do you know that when we praise God we are like the angels? Let us always praise God with hymns and songs all the days of our lives.

Now, every year we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ on January 7. Every year we remember the special celebration when the Savior of the whole world was born and when the angels appeared and sang praises to the glory of God.

Questions for the learner:

What did St. Mary say to accept the message of Archangel Gabriel?

Why did St. Mary go to her cousin Elizabeth?

What happened to St. John when he heard St. Marys voice in greeting?

Why was our Lord Jesus Christ born in a manger?

What did the shepherds see on the night that our Lord Jesus Christ was born?