The power to become a child

The Word, Jesus Christ, is coeternal with the Father. Indeed, He has an earthly beginning and end, a life we can track and understand. This is one of the ways that the Lord has blessed us - He became like us so that we could understand Him in a way like no other.

But more important, with His birth came the birth of salvation - this salvation rang throughout eternity and redeemed all of those who were faithful to God from the beginning of human time until its end. It was an event anchored in time, which echoes out of human reckoning and time. Indeed, "What came to be through Him was life" itself. He gave eternity to the soul. His birth wrought this miracle and made for us a home with God.

It is really incomprehensible. We can speak the words over and over and never really take in the impact of them. However, we don't really need to. What we need to do is accept the truth that the incarnation of Christ brought eternity into time and time into eternity. We are made whole, made alive, made eternal by the mystery of the incarnation. We are redeemed and made acceptable to God through the mystery of salvation and redemption. These two echoes resound through our lives, in our minds and in our hearts.

So, what do we hold onto when trying to comprehend this mystery? Try to see Jesus in Mary's arms and you can see us in God's arms. It is a mirror image - the perishable holding the eternal, and the eternal holding the perishable - but now, because it is so embraced, no longer subject to the reign of destruction and death. The perishable becomes eternal. As Mary gave Birth to Jesus, so Jesus gave birth to Mary's eternal life. He does the same for all of us who accept Him.

As the days of the Christmas Octave and 2010 draw to a close, we are privileged to hear the moving Prologue of the Gospel of John. Among the many phrases that pour out one after the other, I am intrigued by the following: “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.”


Smiley FaceWhat a curious phrase—having the power to become a child. Unless there is a two-year-old in the house, we normally don’t associate the words “power” and “child.” 


Yet, it’s the heart of the Christian mystery. Incapable of saving ourselves, we need a savior. But the path to salvation is not “upward mobility,” but rather “downward humility.” Christian maturity consists in “growing up” enough to become a child, dependent on and totally confident in God. To be “saved,” is to become a child.

And this must come from a power that does not originate within us. The power comes through the choice to “accept him” – to say “yes” to being saved, rescued, by the Word made flesh, the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We must be born “of God.”

The point driven home by the readings on Friday is that we must readily accept Jesus so that when He comes in His glory, we might be saved. What does it mean to readily accept Jesus in our lives? What are some of the lies that are “alien to the truth"? When applying Friday’s readings to my life, I feel as though I need to start over. This is the perfect time to make a New Year’s resolution: I need to let go of the lies of sin: busyness, gossiping, materialism, pride, and so many others of which I am horribly guilty.