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"The Word Became Flesh"
By Diane M. Houdek
Source: Bringing Home the Word
Published: Sunday, December 23, 2012

For St. Francis, the Incarnation was the turning point of human history. Once Christ took on human flesh in Jesus of Nazareth, the salvation fulfilled in the resurrection was set in motion.

Francis’s commitment to poverty and humility had its roots in the Incarnation. His love for Mary, the Mother of God, was based on her role in giving birth to the incarnate Lord.

Francis says of the events in today’s Gospel: “Our Lord Jesus Christ is the glorious Word of the Father, so holy and exalted, whose coming the Father made known by St. Gabriel the Archangel to the glorious and blessed Virgin Mary, in whose womb he took on our weak human nature. He was rich beyond measure and yet he and his holy Mother chose poverty.”

When we grasp how Francis understood the mystery of the Incarnation, we begin to make sense of all he said and did in living and proclaiming the Gospel.

In this Christmas season, we can take Francis’s reverence for the Nativity as our model and guide in all the ways we celebrate God’s love.

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