Flesh of our Flesh – Advent
With all my heart and soul I believe that the Church is the Body of Christ. I also believe that the Church is the family of God and that I am bound to every man, woman and child of the Church because of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. I believe that in Christ I am a part of every member of the Body of Christ and that they are a part of me. I believe that this relationship in the Spirit is as real and as profound as the bond of the flesh and blood. I believe that I am truly part of the Body of Christ. But just believing all these beautiful things about the Church is not enough. If they are to have the influence on my life that they are meant to have, I must also experience what it means to be part of the Body of Christ. Knowing and believing are just not good enough.
During Advent the Church proclaims the mystery of the Incarnation. Christ took flesh in time and He continues to take flesh in the lives of people today. We are the continuation of the Incarnation. As we look back to the joy of the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem we also expect and celebrate His birth in each one of us.
We are a people who live in response to His coming to us as a child in the past, as Spirit in the present and as the King in the future. He has come, He is coming and He shall come again. Advent is a very significant time of the year. It is a time to emphasis the holiness of our relationships and family life. It is a perfect time to lead families to claim their holiness and their beauty by reflecting on the life and family of Jesus that is the result of His coming to us and our adoption into the Father’s family.
Remember, it is our task to remind our people that they already have everything. They are holy because He is holy and He has chosen them. Our holiness is in the ordinary. Our holiness is in loving with everything we’ve got, and in loving the way Jesus loved. Their holiness is to live out their relationships with great love and fidelity. The Church doesn’t make our people holy; it reminds them of what they already possess. It is their commitments, relationships and love in which their holiness is revealed.
The more the Church stresses the meaning and the holiness of family life, the more this holy time becomes the new incarnation of God’s people living out their identity. They are a part of the family, the Body of Christ. He becomes one with us so that we could become one with Him and His family. His coming reminds us that we are no longer individuals living alone but we have been grafted into a community of the Father’s Love.
He came to create a family. He is continually sustaining His family and He will come again for His family. During Advent we are to remind each other that we are alive because of His coming and that we live for His coming.
