The reflections of Shane Kapler - not a member of religious order or movement, but a garden variety dad - excited by what it means to be "just a Catholic."
(It's like saying you're "just a billionaire.")
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
"And the Word became flesh ..."
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (Jn 1:1,14)
The scandal of the incarnation. It is impossible to become comfortable with it: the thought that the eternal, all-powerful Deity would became a helpless child in the arms of His Mother. It was too much for the Docetists, Gnostics, and Arians to take! But the scandal of God's incarnate love didn't end there. Not only did God humble himself by taking the form and appearance of a slave (Phil 2:5-8), He abased Himself even further, taking on
the appearance of bread and giving himself to us as food! It was no accident
that the only “bed” Mary and Joseph found to lay Jesus in that first night
was a feed box for animals. It was divine foreshadowing of the night
thirty-some years later when he blessed and broke the bread, saying, “This is
my body” (Matthew 26:26).
It is impossible to become comfortable with it: the thought that the eternal, all-powerful Deity would became a helpless child in the arms of His Mother. It was too much for the Docetists, Gnostics, and Arians to take! But the scandal of God's incarnate love didn't end there. Not only did God humble himself by taking the form and appearance of a slave (Phil 2:5-8), He abased Himself even further, taking on
the appearance of bread and giving himself to us as food! It was no accident
that the only “bed” Mary and Joseph found to lay Jesus in that first night
was a feed box for animals. It was divine foreshadowing of the night
thirty-some years later when he blessed and broke the bread, saying, “This is
my body” (Matthew 26:26).
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