love letter
"You shall conceive and bear a Son and give Him the name Jesus. Great will be His dignity and He will be called Son of the Most High." —Luke 1:31-32
Today we remember the astonishing fact that God became a baby — a tiny human being attached to the wall of a teenage girl's uterus. The almighty, infinite God became human flesh smaller than your fingernail. No one ever imagined it or prayed for it.
God's Incarnation was so astounding that to the present day we don't know what to think of it. Why would He do such a thing? The only response we can make to the mystery of the Incarnation is: "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:16). He does the unimaginable because He is Love. He became a man because He is Love. He let Himself be crucified and put to death because He is Love. He gives us His body and blood in Holy Communion because He is Love.
The announcement of the Annunciation is: "The virgin shall be with Child, and bear a Son, and shall name Him Immanuel" (Is 7:14). The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, hence her holy Offspring was called Son of God (Lk 1:35). "The Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14). Love became a human being. Alleluia!
Prayer: Father, thank You for loving us so much as to give Your Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16).
Promise: "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." —Heb 10:10
Praise: "Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?" (Catechism, 457) Alleluia!
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 14, 2007
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