It’s beginning to look a lot like
Christmas! Certainly there are plenty of decorations, parties, gifts, music and
all the paraphernalia of the holiday. But for us Christians there is also
something more and of much more meaning and consequence.
We are celebrating the mystery of
the Incarnation. We affirm the wild and even crazy belief that God has become
human. If you don’t think that is a huge proposition to swallow, then clearly
you have not thought long and hard enough about just what it is we are
observing and celebrating at Christmas.
The God of all the universe,
existing before all time, Who is the cause for and continues to hold in existence
all of creation (billions of galaxies each with billions of stars and even more
dark matter and dark energy), has become a helpless human baby. That is pretty
wild. And yet that is what we profess every Sunday in the Creed and what we
will celebrate on Christmas. If you think about this seriously for any length
of time it will make you a bit giddy, it is so overwhelming.
Back in 1977 seven English
theologians (Christian but not Catholic) wrote a book titled: “The Myth of God
Incarnate.” Recently Cardinal Christoph Schöborn, of Vienna, wrote a response
(published by Paulist Press of course!) entitled “The Mystery of the
Incarnation.” It is a short book, describing how mythic language can also speak
of a concrete reality. The Incarnation is a mystery that is all that we say it
is and more that we cannot say.
Even more mind-blowing is the
section where Cardinal Schöborn discusses the goal of the Incarnation. In
short, God became (hu)man so that we might become god. We mortals receive
divine life in Christ. In this context, the Cardinal quotes St. Paul, “You know the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9)
So as we celebrate the Feast of
Christmas, let us not forget to look beyond the eggnog, the candy, the lights,
the festive costumes, the food and the endlessly repeated music, to look
lovingly into the breath-taking mystery of the Incarnation, which in sum is the
Mystery of God’s Love for us.
Merry Christmas!
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