📜Today, on the octave of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Circumcision of Our Lord, the moment when the Child God sheds the first drops of His Most Precious Blood for the redemption of humanity and officially receives the name of Jesus, which means "God Saves." This rite, prescribed by the Mosaic Law for the eighth day of life of every male (Lev 12:3), marks Christ's voluntary submission to the Law to redeem those who were under the Law. The feast, celebrated with liturgical distinction since the 6th century, also possesses a strong Marian character, for it was the Blessed Virgin who presented the Son to the temple. Spiritually, the carnal circumcision of the Old Covenant gives way to Baptism and the circumcision of the heart, which consists in the extirpation of vices and the purification of the soul. Although the civil world begins a new year today, the liturgy ignores the secular calendar to focus on the eternity of the Word and the painful, yet salvific, beginning of His earthly mission.
🎶Introit (Is 9, 6 | Ps 97, 1)
Puer natus est nobis, et fílius datus est nobis: cujus impérium super húmerum ejus: et vocábitur nomen ejus magni consílii Angelus. Ps. Cantáte Dómino cánticum novum, quia mirabília fecit.
A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us, whose government is upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called the Angel of great counsel. Ps. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because He hath done wonderful things.
📖Epistle (Tit 2, 11-15)
Dearly beloved: The grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men; instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly and justly and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ: Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to Himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. These things speak and exhort: in Christ Jesus our Lord.
✠Gospel (Lk 2, 21)
At that time, after eight days were accomplished, that the Child should be circumcised, His name was called Jesus, which was called by the Angel before He was conceived in the womb.
🩸The Blood of the Covenant and the Name of Salvation
🕊️Today's celebration unites, in a profound mystery, the humiliation of the flesh and the exaltation of the Name, for by submitting to circumcision, Christ not only fulfills the Old Law but concludes and sanctifies it, showing that the true circumcision is that of the heart, "in the spirit, not in the letter" (Rom 2:29). St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that the Lord wished to be circumcised to prove the reality of His human flesh, refuting future docetist heresies, and to give us an example of perfect obedience, even though He was the supreme legislator exempt from the law (Summa Theologiae, III, q. 37, a. 1). Upon receiving the name of Jesus, the blood shed in this rite prefigures the total sacrifice of Calvary; as St. Bernard of Clairvaux reminds us, this name is "honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in the heart," being the foundation of our hope, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). The liturgy invites us, therefore, to begin this temporal cycle not with secular frivolities, but under the protection of this powerful Name, assuming the commitment to "circumcise" our own spiritual vices. We must live "soberly, justly, and godly," awaiting the blessed hope, transforming chronological time (chronos) into a time of grace and salvation (kairos), knowing that every day of the year must be lived in conformity with the dignity of Him who redeemed us from all iniquity that we might be a people zealous for good works (Tit 2:14).
🇺🇸See English version of the critical articles here.
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