When listening to the account of Jesus' birth every year during the Advent and Christmas seasons, we hear how Joseph and Mary were forced to find alternative accommodations.
While practically speaking it meant the Holy Family had to find another place for Jesus to be born, spiritually this simple passage challenges us to make room for Jesus in our heart.
Dom Prosper Gueranger meditates on this spiritual theme in his Liturgical Year.
This is a simple spiritual theme to meditate on during Advent, but it is an important one. Jesus comes to us and wants to bring his peace to our hearts. However, we often reject that peace and prefer our anxiety. We turn the Holy Family away, and force them to find someone else to dwell within.
Gueranger hopes that we would all take heed to the spirit of this season, that Jesus will visit us and find room to be born.