In His love, God sent His only Son to deliver the world from darkness. In this excerpt, Saint Alphonsus Liguori beautifully reflects upon the coming of the Savior of the world who came to set us free from the chains of sin and the grip of death.
Jesus Came to Deliver the World from Darkness
Before the coming of the Messiah the world was buried in a dark night of ignorance and sins. The true God was hardly known, save in one single corner of the earth, that is to say, in Judea alone: In Judea God is known. But everywhere else men adored as gods devils, beasts, and stones. Everywhere there reigned the night of sin, which blinds souls, and fills them with vices, and hides from them the sight of the miserable state in which they are living, as enemies of God and condemned to hell: You have appointed darkness, and it is night; in it shall all the beasts of the woods go about.
From this darkness Jesus came to deliver the world: To them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen. He delivered them from idolatry by making known to them the light of the true God; and He delivered them from sin by the light of His doctrine and of His divine example: For this purpose, the Son of God appeared, that He might destroy the works of the devil. The prophet Jeremiah foretold that God should create a new child to be the Redeemer of men: The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth. This new child was Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who is the object of the love of all the saints in paradise, and is the love of the Father Himself, who thus speaks of Him: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this Son is He who made Himself man. A new child, because He has given more glory and honor to God in the first moment of His creation than all the angels and saints together have given Him, or shall give Him for all eternity. And therefore did the angels at the birth of Jesus sing, Glory to God in the highest. The Child Jesus has rendered more glory to God than all the sins of men have deprived Him of.
Let us therefore, poor sinners, take courage; let us offer to the eternal Father this Infant; let us present to Him the tears, the obedience, the humility, the death, and the merits of Jesus Christ, and we shall make compensation to God for all the dishonor that we have caused Him by our offences.
Affections and Prayers
My eternal God, I have dishonored You by so often preferring my will to Yours, and my vile and miserable pleasures to Your holy grace. What hope of pardon would there be for me, if You had not given me Jesus Christ on purpose that He might be the hope of us miserable sinners? He is a propitiation for our sins. Yes; for Jesus Christ, in sacrificing His life in satisfaction for the injuries we have done You, has given You more honor than we have dishonor by our sins. Receive me, therefore, O my Father, for the love of Jesus Christ. I repent, O infinite Goodness, of having outraged You: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before You: I am not worthy to be called Your son. I am not worthy of forgiveness; but Jesus Christ is worthy to be heard favorably by You. He prayed once for me on the cross, Father, forgive; and even now in heaven He is constantly begging You to receive me as a son: We have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who ever intercedes for us. Receive an ungrateful son, who once forsook You, but now returns, resolved to desire to love You. Yes, my Father, I love You, and will always love You. O my Father, now that I know the love that You have borne me, and the patience You have shown me for so many years, I trust no longer to live without loving You. Give me a great love, that may make me constantly lament the displeasure I have given You, who are so good a Father; cause me ever to burn with love towards You, who are so loving a Father. My Father, I love You, I love You, I love You! O Mary! God is my Father, and you are my mother. You can do all things with God; help me; obtain for me holy perseverance and His holy love.
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This article is taken from a chapter in The Road to Bethlehem: Daily Meditations for Advent and Christmas by Saint Alphonsus Liguori which is available from TAN Books.
