“Jesus, your king, is born! Jesus is born! In excess gloria!” 

Luke 2:1-20

Jean de Brébeuf, a French Jesuit missionary, went to Canada in 1625 to minister to the Huron people. At some point, he wrote a Christmas carol which we call the Huron Carol. It’s the classic Christmas story, with angelic announcements, a baby in a humble make-do cradle, and adoring local people. 

The song was written in Huron, set to a French folk tune, and arranged in a style which would appeal to the local people and work with their musical instruments.

The images of shepherds in Bethlehem would not have made sense to the listeners. They did not have mangers or donkeys, sheep, or cattle. Instead, hunters heard the angels, and the babe was placed in a nest of rabbit skin. God is prepared to meet us where we are, and de Brébeuf was ready to do the same. He told his flock, “O children of the forest free… The Holy Child of earth and heaven Is born today for you.”

Among the many messages we can meditate on during Advent, this is surely one of the most important:  the Holy Child of earth and heaven is born for us. And for everyone else, too. 

Praise the Lord! May we take time during the busy and exciting season to think of others different from ourselves, and to make the extra effort to communicate well with them. 

Contributed by Rebecca Haden