Nearly two thousand years ago, God became a human being. This made it possible for God to die. Dying made it possible for Him to rise from the dead. In this way, God saved us from sin, slavery, self-deception, self-hatred, alienation, death, Satan, and hell. The incarnate Jesus saved us for love, freedom, peace, communion, and eternal life. Consequently, God's Incarnation is the beginning of the greatest events in the history of the human race. This is why we count the years based on their distance from the Incarnation.

In the Catholic Church, we have the custom of recalling the Incarnation each day at 6 AM, 12 noon, and 6 PM by praying "The Angelus." When we pray the "Hail Mary" and the first mystery of the joyful mysteries of the rosary, we remember the Annunciation of Jesus' Incarnation. In addition to celebrating today's feast, we celebrate the Incarnation especially during the Christmas season. In fact, every time we receive Holy Communion we receive the incarnate God, for we receive His body and blood, soul and divinity. We are the people of the Incarnation. With Mary, may each of us say with our whole lives each day: "I am the slave of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38, our transl). Praise Jesus, God incarnate!

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, August 9, 2000

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 18, 2000