The Incarnation

I was sitting in my church before Mass today and just thinking. My gaze was drifting across three different things at the front of the church. First I would look at the big crucifix hanging on the wall in the Sanctuary. Then my thoughts would drift over to the nativity scene. I looked at Mary and Joseph and the shepherds all looking at this tiny little baby. Next was the Tabernacle. Here Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Host.

What a striking reminder all of these are of the miracle of the Incarnation. The God of the universe who was here before time began, Creator of all things, became man and was born into creation in this tiny little baby boy I see in this nativity. Then, the baby, grew up and became a man who suffered and died on this cross. This is God, dying for my sins, and the sins of the world. Now, each time Mass is celebrated, Jesus comes to us again, body, soul, and divinity, in what was once bread and wine. And when I go, I get to receive this very same Jesus into my own body.

This is the miracle of the Incarnation! God coming to us in the incredible ways. I can't even begin to understand this miracle, but I'm so thankful for it. And I'm thankful for this deeper understanding of it as a Catholic.