J.M.J. Venite, Adoremus.
Another Christmas Day has dawned. We joyfully commemorate the salvific
Birth of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer awaited throughout the long ages.
The sublime mystery of the Incarnation is our focus. The Second Person
of the Most Blessed Trinity took flesh, thereby becoming man so that we
would be reconciled to God.
The General Council of Chalcedon in 451 explained precisely what we
recall especially each December 25th: " . . . our Lord Jesus Christ, the
same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God
and truly man composed of rational soul and body, the same one in being
(homoousios) with the Father as to the divinity and one in being with
us as to the humanity, like unto us in all things but sin (Hebrews
4:15)."
In His Sacred Divinity, Jesus has existed from before the beginning of
time; He is "the Begotten from the Father." In His Sacred Humanity,
Jesus, at an exact moment in history, was conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; "in the latter days for us and
our salvation" Jesus was born.
This astounding truth of our faith is captured succinctly in the Holy
Name, Emmanuel. Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, is "God-with-us." He is our Redeemer and Savior, our Brother and Friend.
During the recitation of the Nicene Creed at any of the three Masses on
Christmas Day, we genuflect at the words: "and by the Holy
Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man." (If the Nicene
Creed is chanted, we kneel.) By bending the knee, we symbolically
illustrate how Jesus descended from the loving bosom of His Beloved
Father through the powerful action of the Holy Spirit to heal us from
the ongoing misery caused by the audacious transgression of our
ancestors, Adam and Eve.
Jesus has come to us. He has pitched His tent among us and draws us to
Himself. His precious invitation to go to Him is one that we must not forego;
we must not dally in responding affirmatively. He knows what will make
us happy and holy. Only by clinging to Him and His wise commands will we
know genuine contentment.
We ourselves cannot satisfy the deepest longing of our souls for
Everlasting Life. Jesus is the only Savior. Without Him, we will not
enter Heaven.
Jesus' coming to us, if it is to have the fullest effect that He
desires, must be met with our receptivity. Our souls must yield to the
God Who has become man. Our surrender to the Messiah is particularly
demonstrated by our daily prayer, frequent and worthy reception of the
Sacraments and acts of charity and penance.
The Incarnation is one of the chief tenets of our Christian Faith. The
more we understand it, the more we can permit it to have a profound and
abiding significance in our lives.
Our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, and the shepherds and Magi who hurried
to the rustic manger to behold the Prince of Peace were on to
something. They knew that not just anyone occupied that humble bed of
hay. The God-Man, the Incarnate Word (Logos) of the Father, had come
to earth.
"Come, let us adore Him."
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