So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
Friends, as we gather to ponder the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation and attempt to ‘unpack’ its meaning for us this Christmas, we have no better guide than a 4th century Saint from Northern Africa, St. Athanasius. As Bishop of the then thriving Christian city of Alexandria, from an early age, Athanasius pondered the great mysteries of the Christian faith. At 23, he wrote his foundational theological work, On the Incarnation. It is within this work that Athanasius gave the Christian Church the distillation of the meaning of the Incarnation when he wrote the simple yet utterly profound sentence: God became human so that humans can become God!
For many, such a statement was completely shocking. How could the created become the creator? Yet, sisters and brothers, it is precisely such a divine exchange that lies at the heart of the meaning of Christmas.
In the lowly and vulnerable child of Bethlehem, born of the young maiden, Mary whose husband was Joseph, God the Father brought to completion his redemptive plan for the human family. That child cradled in the arms of his mother would, in time, be the fulfillment of the Father’s reconciling love as his outstretched arms would be suspended between heaven and earth on the cross for our salvation – a salvation that would be sealed in his glorious conquering of death in Resurrection and new life.
However, today our eyes gaze on the utterly simple scene of a family cherishing its newborn child. God so often uses the familiar and the unspectacular to manifest his wondrous presence, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear the subtle presence of the God of all ages. Yes, God so often surprises us with his presence in the ordinary and yet profoundly important moments in life, the birth of a child, the surprise of love, and the unearned gift of forgiveness.
The challenging question, however, of this Christmas and every Christmas is: How will Christ be born in us? How can we become worthy of the reality that we are by the grace of the Incarnation and becoming God!
Each day becomes a precious opportunity for us to realize that reality by letting the Christ in us touch those around us with his mercy, love and forgiveness. Let us pray for the grace of this gift beyond all others, this Christmas.