On the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. In the Christ child, God takes up his residence among his people. God, the Father, enters into our human condition and becomes a companion on our spiritual journey. Jesus, the Son of God, comes into our world to teach us, to guide us and most importantly to show us the Father and his immense love for us. In Jesus, the love of God the Father is made visible to us, is revealed to us and is eventually brought to its fullest expression in the Paschal Mystery when he lays down his life for us. The gospel of John tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3,16f)

In the final Book of Revelation John sees a great vision and hears a great truth: “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Rev 21,3f) Jesus is the new Temple, the dwelling place of God among his people. God dwells among us in human flesh and sanctifies every human life as a dwelling place for God. When David expresses his intention to the prophet Nathan to build a house for the Lord, the Lord stops him and reveals to him that it is the Lord’s intention to build his own dwelling place, not in a house of cedar, but in the descendants of David. (2 Sam 7,1-5) God fulfills that promise in time as he makes his dwelling among us in the human flesh of Jesus.

At Christmas, we celebrate not only the birth of the Christ-child, the Son of David, the Son of God, but we also celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation. “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1,14) The glory of God is made visible and dwells among us in the flesh of Jesus, the Son of God, the Word-made-flesh. However, we know that the Mystery of the Incarnation does not take place on the day of the birth of Jesus but it has already occurred when Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the day of the Annunciation, when Mary gives her consent for the Holy Spirit to enter into her womb. Mary carries the Word Incarnate in her womb for 9 months and she guards the mystery of God’s dwelling among men in the deepest recesses of her being.

The angel Gabriel announces the Incarnation to Mary: “And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”” (Luke 1,35) Mary receives this great Mystery of the Incarnation from the angel and she ponders deeply that mystery for nine months as the dwelling place of God is formed in her womb. She guards the mystery, the life within her, that will make all life visible and open the way for all people to enter into eternal life. As an expectant mother, Mary holds the mystery of salvation, the mystery of God’s great love for his people, deep within her, pondering the words of the angel, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1,31-33) Even after the birth of Jesus, the mystery will remain forever guarded deep within the heart of Mary as she ponders and treasures all that will take place in the life of her son. Forever her soul will proclaim the greatness of the Lord and her spirit will rejoice in God her savior. (Luke 1,46f)

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” (1Cor 6,19) St. Paul reminds us that by sanctifying grace, our bodies are also a dwelling place for God in the human race. Like Mary we are called to guard this mystery of indwelling within us by living a holy life. Mary gives us an example of how to live always in relation to the Word Incarnate that dwells within us. Unfortunately, we often do not take seriously this great dignity and honor that is bestowed upon us. We fail to guard the mystery and to allow it to come to the fullness of life within us. We fail to glorify God in our bodies. On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we are given Mary as an example to us all of how to guard the mystery of the indwelling Spirit within us, how to carry that mystery into the world and how to never allow God’s glory to be taken from us by sin.