Dear Friends,
Welcome to Advent. Welcome to a new liturgical year. Welcome to our time of preparing our hearts and lives to celebrate the Word of God made flesh.
When God became flesh in Jesus, a great deal more was achieved than we can ever realize. The extent of the salvation Jesus accomplished always exceeds our understanding. No matter what we say about it, it isn’t enough. How can we ever understand the incredibly good news that the all-powerful God who created the universe took on our human flesh and became weak and fragile just like us.
Certainly, our shortened Advent this year and all the weeks of our Christmas season are not enough to even begin contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation. I would venture to say that most Christians see Christmas as a preparation for something that came later, namely the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Christmas is a minor event on the way there. Yet, without the Incarnation, none of the other events would have ever happened. The Incarnation itself changes human life forever.
The work of salvation and its achievement were not accomplished on one weekend. Christ offers us a salvation that was prepared for from eternity and that was put into motion the moment Mary conceived. The offer of salvation begins with the Incarnation of Jesus and never ends.
I suppose in our contemporary language we could talk about the Incarnation as an upgrade to our human software. Since human nature was in a state of irreparable ruin, God made a New Adam. This New Adam was, is, and had to be, every bit as much a human as we are or it wouldn’t help. If we have a human body, the New Adam had to have a human body. If we have human minds, the New Adam had to have a human mind. If we have a human will, the New Adam had to have a human will. Jesus took upon himself every part of human nature and did it without sin, because he was not born in sin.
And, just as he was 100% human, he was also 100% God. Whatever is of the essence of God is present in Jesus. If we want to know what God is like, we look to Jesus. Which is why the Church can claim that all the things we say of Jesus at Christmas reveals the glory of God – born in poverty among the livestock, visited by lowly shepherds, fleeing as a refugee to a neighboring country…all make known his majesty…as much as the Crucifixion and Resurrection make it known.
As we live our Advent this year and prepare for the Christmas celebration, let us remember that the gift giving, parties and festivities are a mere foretaste of what Christ has secured for us in the eternal glory. Let’s take a few minutes each day this Advent to remind ourselves that when God became one of us, God made it possible for Jesus to be “made perfect through sufferings”. Jesus identified with us so completely that all we have to do is accept his love to be one with Christ into the ages. Perhaps each day this Advent we could contemplate the wonder of a God made flesh – and say “wow! You would do that for me? Thanks for such a gift.”
Peace,
Fr. Damian