The “O” Antiphon for today: O Dawn of the East, brightness of the light eternal, and Sun of Justice: Come, and enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Psalm 19:6-7
The Angelus
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Hail Mary)
Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy word (Hail Mary)
(Bow your head and say) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. (Hail Mary)
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Pour forth we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ Thy Son, was made know by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross, be brought to glory of His resurrection, through the same, Christ our Lord. Amen
Today we look at the closing prayer of the Angelus. What exactly is the incarnation?
Scripture passage for meditation: Philippians 2:5-8: Your attitude must be that of Christ: though He was in the form of God, He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that He humbled Himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross.
John 4:2-3: This is how you can recognize God’s spirit: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God.
1 Timothy 3:16: Wonderful, indeed, is the mystery of our faith, as we say in professing it: “He was manifested in the flesh.”
Hebrews 10: 5-7: Wherefore, on coming into the world, Jesus said; “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me. Holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. Then I said, ‘As is written in the book (Psalm 40:7-9), I have come to do your will, O God.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: 461- Taking up St. John’s expression, “The Word became flesh,” (John 1:14) the Church calls “Incarnation” the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. 463- Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith. 464- The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. 460- The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (2Peter 1:4): For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word, and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.
My thoughts: In the new translation used in the Mass, we profess a belief that Christ is consubstantial with the Father. “The Eternal Son, who was born of the Virgin Mary, is neither ‘like’ the Father nor ‘practically the same substance’ as the Father. The Eternal Son enjoys the very same substance as the Father. The Son possesses fully the Godhead of the Father.(Fr. Cessario,www.romanmissalchanges.com)
It does require God’s pouring grace into our hearts for us to fully appreciate this tremendous gift of God becoming Man. Our minds balk at the idea, and our senses tell us this cannot be. Yet it is, and it is why the world pauses for one day, to bend a knee and adore the King, the God, the Savior of the world, born to die so that man may be forever a son of God. Let us spend the next few days before Christmas in awe of the gift so freely given. Christ loves each and every one of us enough to come into our hearts, and show us the way to the Father. Let Him in, with praise and thanksgiving, in sorrow and in joy, and trust in His benevolent kindness and mercy. “Haste, haste to bring Him laude, the babe, the son of Mary!”
Don't forget to say your Christmas Novena 15 times today for your special intention!
Christmas Novena
Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment
At which the Son of God was born
Of a most pure Virgin
At a stable at midnight in Bethlehem
In the piercing cold
At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee,
To hear my prayers and grant my desires(mention request here).
Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother.
Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment
At which the Son of God was born
Of a most pure Virgin
At a stable at midnight in Bethlehem
In the piercing cold
At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee,
To hear my prayers and grant my desires(mention request here).
Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother.
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