The mystery of the Incarnation is really unique among the world's religions. Only in Christianity do we believe that in one God there are three Persons, each one reflecting a different aspect of the One God. Only in Christianity do we believe that one of those Persons, the Son, assumed our human nature and came to live among us and share our life. Jesus is not partly God and partly human but fully God and fully human. Through His humanity, which we can grasp, we are led to some understanding of His divinity, which is totally beyond our comprehension. Jesus is the bridge between God and us. He comes to us and shares our life fully so that we may go through Him to the fullness of God.

The message comes graphically and dramatically in the Bethlehem scene where Jesus, from the very beginning, shares the poverty and simplicity of the poor and it is the poor who are the first to welcome His coming. Let us remember this Christmas that we, too, are called to continue bringing the love and compassion of God to the most needy in our society and in our world. The message of Christmas is to be proclaimed every day and in every place by those who, through Baptism, are the members of His Body continuing the work that began in the stable at Bethlehem.