Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,
A few years ago, I visited Loreto, Italy, where The Blessed Mother’s house from Nazareth is supposedly found. (How a house from Nazareth ended up in Italy needs another bulletin article or book.) The house is a very simple, small and obviously ancient structure that fits easily below the main altar of the cathedral. What struck me were the words inscribed inside the house: “Hic Verbum Caro Factum Est:” “Here the Word became flesh.” This refers to the moment when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that the power of the Most High would overshadow her so that she would become the mother of the Son of God. It struck me anew that this event was not a fable, myth, allegory or anything of that sort; no, the Word of God, through whom the universe was created, entered our history through the consent of an obscure woman in a nondescript, poor hovel. This truth is astonishing beyond words.
As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, I pray that the birth of the Son of God may strike you anew, leading to awe, wonder and profound worship. He who took on flesh in simplicity, poverty and silence, and who was born in the same conditions, now desires to take on flesh in the simplicity of your house and soul. What you may consider to be the most undignified and unworthy of places becomes infinitely beautiful through his condescending love.
A blessed and joyful Christmas to all of you!
In Christ,
Fr. Dave
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