Three years, ago the Franciscans I work for sent me on a pilgrimage to Assisi. (They send 10 lay employees a year from their various ministries, parishes, etc. It is their way of sharing their charism.) The experience changed my life.

Before I left for Italy, I asked God to help me experience Jesus as Francis and Clare might have experienced him. And after two days in the city, I can only assume that’s what happened. While walking in the streets of Assisi, I experienced a sense of joy so profound that at times I found myself singing an “Alleluia.” The experience was different than ordinary happiness, because there was an intense sense of peace at its core. I felt like I was home. I received no great intellectual insights on the pilgrimage, just that extraordinary intuitive sense of joy.

After returning from the pilgrimage, I asked my spiritual director (a Franciscan theologian) to help me learn more about Jesus. And that was the beginning of my awakening to a theology of joy—an awakening that is changing my life.

Here’s what I’ve discovered so far, obviously abbreviated, in my own words and based on my life experiences.

I grew up with a theology of atonement. Jesus was sent by his father to die on the cross to save me from my sins. Indeed, the prevalent theology of the time taught that Jesus would not have come if Adam and Eve had not sinned. When I was growing up, this theology affected my image of God and myself.

At the age of six I knew I was a sinner (great self-image!!), and Jesus had to die on the cross because of my sins. I was certainly told God loved me, but on some unconscious level (later, conscious level) I couldn’t imagine any father loving someone who caused his son to die. Add to that the daily ego-busting happenings of growing up, and I found myself feeling less than lovable. I “mea culpa-ed” my way well into adulthood and even managed to translate the Rahner theology I learned in graduate school to meet the theology of atonement so deep in my spiritual roots.

Please understand I know atonement theology has some really true and important things to teach us. I am a sinner, and Jesus did come to save me. But that’s not the whole story. I have learned that there needs to be a balance of atonement theology with a theology of joy. That balance came for me with an introduction to the Franciscan theologian John Duns Scotus.

Duns Scotus lived 50 years after Aquinas (100 years after Francis). He taught that Jesus would have come even if Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned. It was planned from all eternity that the goodness of the triune God would be shared and lived and loved beyond the Trinity itself. That was God’s plan.

It was always planned that Jesus would come to show us what humanness is all about, to share his humanness with us and, through that humanness and in that humanness, to share in divine life.

Jesus is the one in whom, through whom and for whom all things came into being. Jesus is the firstborn of all that lives and the firstborn of all that has died. Absolute primacy belongs to Jesus in everything and everyone (Col 1, Eph 1). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). We all know that was Jesus.

I also remembered learning about the prime mover in metaphysics. God doesn’t react—God acts. If Jesus only came because of Adam and Eve’s sin, wouldn’t that mean God was reacting to a creature’s action?

So here I am, and this is what I know: There is something so great in being human that Jesus was planned from before the beginning of time. And besides that, he saved me.

I have also learned a new understanding of being saved. Being saved does not just mean having my sins forgiven. Within God’s plan (the mystery of the triune God’s love) the people God created sinned. So when Jesus came he saved us: He saved us from sin, shared his life with us and brought us to union (with God, God’s people and all of creation).

Salvation is much bigger than “forgiveness of sin.” Salvation means fulfillment. It is the fulfillment of all of God’s plans for us and for all of creation. It is the bringing to completion of all creatures.

The Latin word salus means “healthy.” The adjective salvus means “whole.” To be saved is to be whole. Salvation offers us the chance to become who we were created to be, so that we can reclaim our place in God’s plan and become one with God and all that God created.

There are three parts to salvation: Part one is forgiveness of sin. Part two is accepting the newness of love and life Jesus offers us. (Here was my obstacle—one has to truly believe one is lovable to accept love.) Part three is when we come into unity with all that is. The kicker is this: Forgiveness of sin (part one) means nothing without parts two and three.

The trip to Assisi was a great blessing. The love of my family and my friends had convinced me over the years that I am lovable, but in Assisi I became certain of the fact. In the streets and plazas where Francis and Clare walked, I felt God’s love. And finally, thanks to the Franciscans in my life, I am finding the words to share why that is so important.

So, I’ll end where I began, with an invitation to read the Catholic Update written by Ken Overberg, S.J., “The Incarnation and Why God Wanted to Become Human.”

Postscript: The word dunce crept into the language in the 15^th century as a way to ridicule those who believed the teachings of John Duns Scotus. That’s one way to curb a teaching.

On the day of the party, plan some games for children adapted for the season. “Pin the ornament on the tree” comes to mind. You might even have some games for the adults. Have party hats and decorate the tables with crepe paper and balloons.

Refreshments would include birthday cake, of course, and ice cream on the side. Make sure you tell folks to wait for everyone to get a piece of cake before they begin eating.

Finally, after they have eaten their cake, ask members of each family to spend some time talking about how they are the hands, feet, eyes, etc., of Jesus. (Click here to get a handout page from Together Time: Spirit with Us, an activity book from the God Is Calling family series.

Fr. Jack Wintz, O.F.M., is pretty good with the pen on this subject too. His article “How the Incarnation Changed Everything” is an eloquent reflection on the difference it makes to us that Christ became one of us. While this article is no longer available in print, it continues to be available to read as part of our abundant library of resources at AmericanCatholic.org. A significant online collection of newsletter and magazine articles on a wide range of Catholic topics is available as part of our company’s evangelization effort. Simply type in the topic of your search under “Search for Articles” on our homepage. (If you’re looking for a product, type in your topic under “Search for Products” and you will be taken to our online catalog.)

This coming year, St. Anthony Messenger Press will be exploring these and other questions in Jesus: A Historical Portrait, a new monthly newsletter. In an effort to help educators and pastoral ministers respond to the need for solid Catholic teaching about the life and message of Jesus of Nazareth, St. Anthony Messenger Press will launch this 12-month exploration of the life and message of Jesus beginning in Lent 2006.

The author of this series is renowned Scripture scholar and author Fr. Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., professor of New Testament at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fr. Harrington’s focus is on the most basic of all Christian doctrines, the identity of Jesus.

Fr. Harrington will lead readers through the world, life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus, using significant literary, historical and theological elements to help interpret what the Gospels and other sources tell us about Jesus.

Jesus: A Historical Portrait integrates biblical scholarship with Catholic teaching to equip readers with the tools they need to engage more fully with Scripture and grow in faith. Here’s an excellent opportunity for adult faith formation through the coming new year. Subscribe today!