"Wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger" is Jesus on
the night of His birth. The world had forgotten the richness of
being poor. It was needful that Jesus should enter into the
world in poverty to teach the lesson of detachment from earthly
things. In the Crib of Bethlehem, as from the Mount, Christ
teaches the self-same lesson: "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
If we possess worldly goods, let us act as God's faithful
stewards, giving liberally to the poor of Christ; if poverty be
our lot, let us not murmur against God's Holy will, but rather
thank God we are saved from the many temptations of riches.
Mary, lover of poverty, teach us to seek first the Kingdom of
God.
Fourth Joyful Mystery:
"The Presentation"
"And after the days of her purification, according to the law of
Moses, were accomplished, they carried Him to Jerusalem, to
present Him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the
Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the
Lord."--(St. Luke, II, 22, 23.)