? and made His dwelling among us. (John 1:14)
As we continue to prepare for the celebration of The Lord?s birth, I invite you to stop and think about what it was like for Jesus to become man. He was born to die for our sins in a humiliating and excruciatingly painful manner. His willingness to endure the necessary agony and suffering provide just a small glimpse of His love for us. There is nothing that we could ever do the adequately repay Him for this gift.
One of the best reflections that I?ve seen on the subject comes from Archbishop Fulton Sheen is his book, Life is Worth Living. He writes, “Suppose you were saddened by the way dogs were treated, beaten by strangers, starved, and driven from the company of men. To teach mankind to love dogs, further suppose that you divested your body and put your soul into the body of a dog. That would mean that inside the organism of a dog was an intellect capable of knowing God and a will capable of loving Him. Suppose that when you took on the form and habit of a dog, you resolved never to transcend the limitations of that animal organism. Though you had a mind that could scan the finite, you would never speak, you would not utter a word but would limit yourself to a bark. Though you were an artist, you would not use a brush to create. Second, suppose you resolved to subject yourself only to the companionship of other dogs, sharing their lives just in an effort to try and help them in virtue of your superior mind. That would indeed be an act of humility and a humiliation, particularly if you died defending the animals whose nature you embraced in order to save.”
The only thing I can add to that is, ?Thank you, Jesus?.
