Men, Christmas celebrates not the beginning of the Incarnation, but its revelation. The eternal Word assumed human nature at the Annunciation, when the Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. At Christmas, that hidden mystery is brought forth into the world. What was accomplished in silence is now made visible in humility at the Nativity.>“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This truth precedes the manger, yet it is at Bethlehem that the Church beholds the Incarnation with her eyes. The Nativity is the manifestation of a reality already accomplished: God has entered human history not symbolically, but bodily, permanently, and irrevocably.>This distinction is essential for the Catholic man. God does not merely appear among us; He commits Himself to our condition. He submits to time, place, family, and law. Christ is born not into abstraction, but into a household, under the authority of Saint Joseph and the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Incarnation sanctifies human nature; the Nativity sanctifies ordinary life.

Originally published in Catholic Manhood. Read original article