of the freedom to choose given to us by God. This capacity to freely choose to love is what constitutes the "Imago Dei", the image of God in each one of us.God did not create us as robots but as persons. That capacity to choose to respond to His invitation has been affected by the "original sin", the great rebellion. Because of sin,all men and women now tend to what classical theology called concupiscence.

Sin has wounded us-- and it has affected the world in which we now live. That is why we could not overcome our own nor the world's corruption without help from heaven.That is why we needed (and still need) to be "saved" by One like us.

However, because He has been born, we are now given a new Way on which to walk, and the invitation to live our entire lives "in Him". We have been given the "power to become the children of God" By grace we have the capacity to choose love and so to be transformed into Him who is Love incarnate.

On Christmas we remember that in the "fullness of time" God came among us. Heaven touched earth and earth has been elevated! The all- powerful God who made both heaven and earth became a vulnerable baby and chose to give Himself to His creation.The eternal entered time and time has been forever sanctified.

Oh, the mystery of this moment, the grandeur of this Feast! The importance of preparing for the coming(s) of the Lord! For too much of our history as a Christian people we have missed the profound foundational truth of the entire Christian Mystery. The Incarnation continues!

The Word still becomes flesh in and through each of us who have been baptized into Him. His tent is still being "pitched" among all men and women. That tent is His Body, His Church. His Body, all those who are now incorporated into Him through Baptism, are called to spread the tent-pegs and make room in the tent for the entire human race.

The same Word through whom the Universe was made is the Word through whom it is now being redeemed and re-created. That transformation will finally be completed when all things are reconstituted in Him in the new Heaven and New Earth.

On the wonderful day called "Christ-Mass" the entire world pauses. The great event of Christmas touches every man, woman and child. The entire world is again presented with the Christian claim---"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

Let us use the season of Advent to prepare and let those of us who have embraced the truth of this claim now manifest- in our own lives and families- the fruits of the Incarnation. Let us become a Christmas people and offer through our lives of love the greatest gift of all.

Let us continue to manifest the beauty of the Incarnation to a world that still waits to be born.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

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