The Incarnation Continues
By Fr. Joe Tetlow , SJ
At Christmas, we're celebrating the beautiful mystery of the Incarnation. The Incarnation didn't just happen and end. It's more like the Big Bang, creation's beginning that is still expanding the cosmos and bringing more and more of us on this earth. The Incarnation continues, first, because to those of us who believe in Jesus and keep His word, the Father and the Son, by the work of the Spirit, spirit come and take up a home in our hearts. St. Paul fussed at the Corinthians: Don't you understand that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? The Incarnation goes on!
So, second, when we worry that some in our families who were baptized and confirmed don’t see much of church any more, we have to turn to the hope that is in us. God comes to save His people—that's us, all of us as families and parishes and dioceses. Those of us who stay close to Christ, praying and making retreats, are hauling others who have been neglecting who they really are—we are hauling them into eternal life.
Eternal life is the third way the Incarnation continues. For we baptized are already immortal. It's true that our time will come when mortality will put on immortality, and reverse what The Son did. He came into our flesh, bringing His immortality; we will go into His Resurrection, bringing our mortal bodies to be like His, because we will see Him as He is. Now not a little baby, but the great Lord of all lords and King of the entire cosmos. Now we see why we insist on Merry Christmas!
