The Birthday of Jesus, the Christ

We are nearing the birthday of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  What a sight!  The Son of God leaves the glory of heaven to take up residence here on earth and embrace all that it means to be human.  God becomes incarnate, an infant dependent upon Mary and His foster father Joseph for everything. He, the Creator of the Universe, enters our existence as a newborn child. What humility!  He comes to show us the way to the Father. That way is the way of  obedience, learning such throughout his childhood and adolescence as any child does, and through his sufferings here on earth to the point of his crucifixion. Jesus learns the way of humble  service, the way of self-giving, self-emptying through the example of Mary and Joseph.  Like any small child,  Jesus is taught to love by His parents, loving him into existence and into fullness of life that is experienced in being loved, cherished, affirmed, directed and guided by one's parents, one's teachers and, in Jesus' case, the rabbis of his day.  Through Mary and Joseph, and other adults,  Jesus is taught to respect, honor and love himself, to cherish and appreciate his God-given talents and gifts as a human being. He is nurtured and strengthened by the love and the guidance of his earthly parents in the same way that responsible parents today provide the proper environment for their children to know, love and serve God in this life and be happy with God eternally.

Lord, may I appreciate your generosity and humility in coming to earth, in becoming God incarnate living among us!  May I fall on my knees when I think of You leaving the glory of heaven to embrace the not-so-glorious realities of human life and then, to top it all off, fall into the hands of the Scribes and Pharisees, the leaders and elders of your people who, during your public ministry, did everything possible to find ways to put you to death, to remove you from our midst because they saw you as a threat to their powerful positions and their worldly pursuits!  God have mercy! We are still trying to remove any remembrance of you from our lives today!