"When peaceful silence lay over all...Your powerful Word leapt down from heaven." These words are from the Book of Wisdom and our Opening Antiphon today. In the light of Christmas, they bear a very profound meaning for us.

The Mediterranean world into which Jesus was born was, by human standards, a peaceful one. The Romans had conquered most of that world and imposed their "Roman peace". The Gospel, and the Liturgy of the Church, however, call us to deeper reflection and to understand that the true place of "peaceful silence" was in the heart of Mary, for she was the one who heard the powerful Word of God. Her heart was prepared to listen to God through her Immaculate Conception. Her heart was not burdened with the sinful noises stemming from the world, the flesh and the devil.

She was free to hear the Word of God and to listen to it, accept it, and respond to it. This powerful Word of God created the possibility of entering into silence, like that of Mary and experiencing the empowering truth of God's love for us.