Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/69

 becomes a  helpless  babe;  a  Son  born  of  a  virgin  without a  father;  two  natures  in  a  single  person;  the King of  kings  and  the  Lord  of  lords  a  despised  outcast in  the  direst  poverty! The oldest  of  all  in  the order of  being — the  ancient  of  days — is  just  born. What prodigies  these! Again, what  a  contrast  of events. Hitherto it  was  the  rule  for  infants  to  be born  and  the  aged  to  die,  but  to-day  the  contrary; the aged  of  days  is  born  and  death  claims  the  youthful Stephen  and  the  Holy  Innocents. How singular, that in  the  order  of  events  and  in  the  Church's  calendar, the  birth  of  life  should  be  so  soon  followed  by the  triumph  of  death. The fact  is  pregnant  with meaning. It aptly  explains  away  all  of  the  many apparent contradictions  and  inconsistencies  of  the Redeemer's personality  and  career. The pagan idea, that  it  was  necessary,  from  time  to  time,  for  one man to  die  for  the  people,  though  false  in  its  application, was  fundamentally  true. Humility alone  exalteth. Adam's pride  is  not  to  be  cured  but  by  Christ's humiliation,  and  no  sooner  does  the  Word  of  God undergo what  must  have  been  for  Him  like  voluntary death — no sooner  is  He  become  incarnate,  than  the pure souls  of  Stephen  and  the  Innocents  wing  their flight heavenward. The Father  takes  off  His  royal robe and  places  it  on  the  shoulders  of  the  prodigal. Christ lays  aside  His  divinity  and  His  life  only  to infuse  them  into  us,  for  His  debasement  is  our  exaltation. In the  sixth  chapter  of  the  fourth  Book  of Kings,  all  this  is  beautifully  typified. We see  the son of  Eliseus  the  prophet  on  the  river  bank  hewing