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Showing posts with the label Nativity

A Primer on the Incarnation

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Fr. Philip N. Powell OP, PhD The Nativity of Christ, or Christmas ("Christ Mass"), celebrates one of the most important events of the Church:  the incarnation of the Son of God.  Like the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, etc., the Incarnation is one of those rock-bottom Christian beliefs that most Christians assent to but probably don't really understand.  Though Catholics all over the world affirm their belief in the incarnation every Sunday by reciting the Creed, how many could explain this tenet of the faith in the simplest terms? Let's start with a story... The archangel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces to her that God has chosen her to be the mother of the Christ Child, His Son.  Mary says, "Your will be done" and the Holy Spirit descends on Mary, giving her the child.  Nine months later the Christ is born in Bethlehem. Simple enough story, right?  If we left the incarnation there, we would still have the basic truth of Chris

Christmas 2015

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Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.  — Isaiah 7:14 O God, who marvelously created and yet more marvelously restored the dignity of human nature, grant that we may share the divinity of Him who humbled himself to share our humanity. — From the Nativity of the Lord [Christmas Day] liturgy. The Nativity Of Our Lord Jesus Christ From The Roman Martyrology The announcement of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord from the Roman Martyrology draws upon Sacred Scripture to declare in a formal way the birth of Christ. It begins with creation and relates the birth of the Lord to the major events and personages of sacred and secular history. The particular events contained in the announcement help pastorally to situate the birth of Jesus in the context of salvation history. The Nativity Of Our Lord Jesus Christ The Twenty-fifth Day of December, when ages beyond number had run their course from the creation of the world,