We Are Children Of God

Who is Jesus to you?  

He is the most exceptional human ever born, as the Incarnation of God.  He is the only person whose birth was preannounced by an angel.  He was born in a stable in the city of Bethlehem, which means “House of Bread,” to a virgin named Mary – who gave us life, sweetness and hope!  Her baby was laid in a manger, the trough that fed the lowly animals. There is great significance to this event because this baby became our Savior and feeds us daily with the “Bread of Life.”  

In his book “Life of Christ” the Venerable Archbishop Fulton John Sheen writes, “In the taking of human flesh, God the Father prepared it, the Holy Spirit formed it and the Son assumed it. God, who brings together body and soul into one human personality, notwithstanding their differences of nature, could surely bring about the union of a human body and soul with His Divinity under the control of His eternal person.”

Bethlehem became the link between Heaven and earth, the place where God and man met face-to-face. Other men have claimed they came from God – or were gods – or brought messages from God.

Archbishop Sheen tells us, “reason and history are the best ways to measure the claims of all religions.  Reason, because everyone has it, even those without faith; history, because everyone lives in it and should know something about it.”   

What distinguishes Christ from all other religious leaders is that He was expected; people were seeking a redeemer.  He appeared with such impact that He split history in two, dividing life before His coming and life after.  The uniqueness of the birth of Jesus is this: every person comes into this world to live.  He came into it to die. Death was the fulfillment of His life!  The fall of man was an act of free will, and so too the Redemption of man had to be free.  God needed the consent of a human creature to help Him incorporate into humanity.

Great humility was involved in the Word becoming flesh!  Archbishop Sheen said, “It was not so much that His birth cast a shadow on His life, and thus led to His death; it was rather that the Cross was there from the beginning, and cast its shadow backward to His birth.  In His First Advent He took the name of ‘Jesus’; it will only be in His Second Advent that He will take the name of ‘Judge.’  He could not teach the lesson of the Cross.  He had to take it!”  

I witnessed a person who understands salvation and knows Jesus very well.   After Communion at evening mass, as I was returning the ciborium to the tabernacle, I noticed a frail woman enter the church.  She was visibly anxious and unsteady on her feet, but was making her way to the altar while mumbling in Polish.  She was alone, and I was concerned that she was having a medical episode.  Inconsolable, I managed to invite her to sit in a pew until Mass was over.  She desperately wanted a priest to hear her confession.   As in all stories of faith, there is a happy ending.  I found a granddaughter waiting in the narthex for Jadwida.  She said her grandmother was 92, and had been restless for days because angels were telling her that death was near.  The granddaughter had Googled information to find the nearest church, hoping to find comfort for her grandmother.  

Jadwida left the church peacefully, and very grateful for her time spent in prayer.  An invitation was extended for the family to join us again for the blessing of Eucharist.  I am not sure what God has in store for the beautiful life of Jadwida, but I know her Savior lives!  

“But all those who did welcome Him, He empowered to become the children of God” (John 1:12).Amen!