On Titus 3:4–7 and Luke 2:15–20
“The kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared”
Collect for the Day:
Deus, cujus Unigenitus in substantia nostrae carnis apparuit: praesta, quaesumus; ut per eum, quem similem nobis foris agnovimus, intus reformari mereamur. Qui tecum vivit et regnat…
On this sixth day within the Octave of the Nativity, the Church sets before us two resplendent lights: the Epistle from St. Paul to Titus (Titus 3:4–7), and the Gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 2:15–20). The former is a doctrinal jewel illuminating the mystery of divine mercy and regeneration; the latter a quiet pastoral scene in Bethlehem, where humble shepherds become evangelists after beholding the Word made flesh.
I. Titus 3:4–7 — “The kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared”
St. Paul writes with the awe of one who has seen the dawn after a long night:
“But when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared: not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us.”
In this single passage, we find the very heart of the Christmas mystery — Apparuit — He has appeared. The eternal Word, consubstantial with the Father, has taken our flesh, not in response to our merits, but purely from His mercy.
St. Augustine marvels at this mystery in his Sermon 185, saying:
“He who made man was made man; He who created all things was created among all things; He who bears the world is carried in a woman’s arms. He who feeds the angels is suckled at a woman’s breast.”
This is not mere poetry; it is the paradox of divine condescension. Paul says that the lavacrum regenerationis — the washing of regeneration — has come by the Holy Ghost. Here the Church Fathers see not only baptism but the entire economy of grace flowing from the Incarnation. The Apparition of Christ is the wellspring of the sacraments. As St. Leo the Great declares in his Christmas homily:
“Our Saviour, dearly beloved, today is born: let us rejoice. It would be unlawful to be sad today, for today is Life’s birthday.”
Indeed, today’s Epistle is a short catechism on grace: salvation is not from works, but from mercy; not from ourselves, but from Him who appeared in our flesh. In this, we are “heirs, according to the hope of life everlasting.”
II. Luke 2:15–20 — The Shepherds Make Haste
“And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem… and they came with haste.”
The Gospel gives us the proper response to divine grace: haste, obedience, and contemplation.
Bethlehem, the House of Bread, receives shepherds — the lowly of Israel — to behold the true Bread come down from heaven. St. Ambrose reflects on this scene:
“See the shepherds, vigilant in their watch, hastening to the manger. The poor first receive Christ, the rich come afterward. Not the scribes, not the Pharisees, but the shepherds come first.”
They came and “found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.” The order of this finding is itself instructive. First Mary, the Theotokos, model of the Church; then Joseph, protector and guardian; then the Divine Infant, accessible through them. This is a profoundly ecclesial image: we come to Christ through the holy order established by God.
The shepherds then become proclaimers:
“They made known abroad the word which had been spoken to them concerning this child.”
This is the first evangelization. No eloquence, no training — just simple men who have seen and believed. The Church Fathers see in them the model of all Christian witness. As St. Gregory the Great wrote:
“Notice what the shepherds do after seeing the Child: they proclaim. Those who have encountered Christ must share Him.”
And Mary, the silent contemplative, “kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” This heart, as St. Bernard of Clairvaux says, becomes the Church’s treasury:
“Mary is called full of grace because she poured grace out upon all; yet she herself never ceased to drink deeply.”
III. The Spirit of the Sixth Day in the Octave
The Church in her liturgy today continues to kneel in adoration before the mystery of the Incarnate Word. The repeated Apparuit of the liturgical texts — “He has appeared” — resounds like a refrain through the Octave. We are called not merely to admire, but to be changed.
The Epistle tells us that regeneration by grace is now possible. The Gospel shows us the first fruits of that grace: humble hearts made bold by the vision of the Child. The shepherds believed, adored, and proclaimed.
Let us imitate them. Let us hasten to Bethlehem — not in sentiment, but in humility and devotion. Let us receive the Infant King with the hearts of poor shepherds, and treasure the mystery in silence like the Immaculate Virgin.
As the Preface of the Nativity declares:
“Because by the mystery of the Word made flesh, a new light of Thy glory hath shone upon the eyes of our mind: that while we know God visibly, we may by Him be rapt to love things invisible.”
Amen.