"It's the most wonderful time of the year" .... almost

Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin. (Gaudium et spes, 22)

God was is full of so much love that he created man and woman in his image. He wanted wants us to be more than mere puppets. We are our own beings, full of dignity and worth, yet still dependent on Him, through whom all things have existence. But this was not enough. No, he had to come live with us as one of us. Simply communicating to us through the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament was not near enough to please him. He chose to become one of us. “Who, though he was in the form of God… emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance…” (Phil 2:6a, 7). “By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man” (Gaudium et spes, 22).

On Sunday, we begin the preparation for this awesome event—when God came down from heaven to be with us as one of us! Truly, he loved us so much that he came to us in the person of the Son, the second person in the Trinity, the Logos, the Word. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). How can you have the passion, death, and resurrection without the birth?

If we truly plan to join the angels, singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14), we first need to prepare ourselves. How can this advent be as beneficial to me as possible? What must I do to enter this season of Christmas rejoicing with the angels over the birth of our Lord?