In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen.

My Lord and my God I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence, I ask your pardon for my sins.

And the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my Father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

Today, as we prepare for Christmas during this wonderful season of Advent, we've looked at some of the most stellar figures of our faith, so as to learn from their

response to grace, their disposition, and their readiness to be playing their role in

the incarnation. Naturally, we started with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and then we moved on to

her husband, St. Joseph. But now we have to move on to not an

individual as such, with a name, but to a small anonymous group that were the first ones to be

informed about this miracle of God being born there in Bethlehem. This is the unnamed, indeed unknown, poor shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem.

We see them often in paintings surrounding these events of the birth of Christ. They're there,

in their shepherd's garbs with their sheep.

But even though they look very secondary figures, we can learn a lot from them.

As soon as Luke recounts those tender moments in which Mary wraps her infant in these cloths, these bands of cloths.

He tells it that she lays him in a manger, and as a result of that act, he's just,

John's been born, there's like a supernatural ripple effect. God himself has laid his head on the straw. He's wrapped up,

this little child, whose God is wrapped up, and this grace suddenly echoes around Mary and Joseph.

But specifically to these shepherds who had the very important duty of watching over the sheep

that would be used eventually for the sacrifice in the temple.

I'm sure we're aware of that marvel's account as is recounted by St. Luke.

He says this, in that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch

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