Not long after they left, it began
to snow. After briefly watching the
snowfall in the still of the night, he sat down by his fireplace to read the
newspaper. He was startled by a thud,
followed by another thud. Thinking it
was someone throwing snowballs at his window he went outside to
investigate.
Listen to the homily to get the full story!
Merry Christmas - He heard a thud - Christmas - Incarnation - December 25th, 2018
Click here to download the Christmas homily.
Mass During the Night Readings:
IS 9:1-6; PS 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13; TI 2:11-14; LK 2:1-14
Mass at Dawn Readings: IS
62:11-12; PS 97:1, 6, 11-12; TI 3:4-7; LK 2:15-20
Below is a copy of the related bulletin article:
Why the Incarnation?
Merry
Christmas! Christmas isn’t just a day
but a season. During this season, we are
celebrating the Incarnation of God, or in other words that God became man. For many people this can be difficult to
believe and accept. We might ask why
would He do that?
The
Church gives us four reasons. The first
reason that God became man is to save
us from our sins. We are burdened and
trapped by our sins and our sins can prevent us from being with God in
heaven. So, God needed to come and save
us through His birth, Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Secondly,
He came to dispel our fear by revealing to us love. Love is more than a feel, it’s a choice. Love in its highest form is willing the good
of the other. The self-sacrifice of
Jesus Christ on the Cross, is the gift of Himself and it is so pleasing to God
the Father that it makes up for all the sin of all human beings for all of
time. Such a sacrifice reveals His
love. Jesus Himself said, “No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13)
He came to reveal love to us.
Thirdly,
He came to be a model of holiness for us.
On our own we cannot reach heaven.
We can only get there by the grace of God. However, we needed to be shown how to accept
and cooperate with the grace of God through the example of Jesus’ life and His
teachings.
Lastly,
He came to give us a share in the Life of God.
St. Irenaeus tells us, "For this is why the Word became man, and
the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion
with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of
God." By God’s grace, which was won
for us on the Cross, we can have the life of God within us and through that
grace be united to God here on earth and hopefully forever in heaven.
He
came to save us, to reveal love to us, to be an example of holiness for us, and
to grant us a share in His divine life.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church #457-460)
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