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December 31, 2021On this last day of 2021, we reflect on the beginning of the Gospel of John, the Prologue which recounts that, before all creation, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Today we are celebrating the seventh day of the Octave of Christmas, in which we continue to contemplate the Incarnation, because to do so is to enter the very mystery of our salvation.
During Mass, while the altar is being prepared, the presider, or an assisting deacon, drops water into the chalice of wine, quietly praying, “by the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” This marvelous exchange is essential to our faith because we are not only called to turn away from sin, but to participate in God’s own life. As one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit communicate their complete exchange of personal relationship from all eternity. The Word, the Second Person of the Trinity, who is fully God, is the one who, in the fullness of time, was born of the Virgin Mary.
Imagine, again, the scene when Mary and Joseph pick up Jesus from the manger in Bethlehem. This little baby is like us in all ways but sin. God did not just appear to be human, or even just associate very closely with a human person, but truly became flesh, and dwelt among us. Indeed, the Incarnation took place in the very person of the Word, a gift that is personal for us. What a profound and simple depth, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” That the Son of God assumed our own human nature has every resonance with our salvation because as we renounce our disobedience and pride, we do so that we may enter into the journey of union with God, to share God’s own life forever. Through our baptism, we have become children of God. Thus, the charity we now express toward one another is a response to God, who continues to save us through the fullness of grace we have received in Jesus Christ, in the gift of the Incarnation.
