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Meditations - Friday in the Second Week of Advent: The Glory of Man through the Incarnation
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow on the glory which accrues to man from the incarnation of the Word, and we shall see: first, that it raises man in Jesus Christ to the highest degree of greatness; second, that it places him in several respects in a better position than he was before his fall. We will then make the resolution: first, to respect our body and keep it always pure, seeing that the Incarnate Word has so greatly honoured it; second, to grow every day in love to Our Lord, who has loved us so much, and to multiply acts of love day and night. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Church, “O happy fault which procured for us such a Redeemer” (Exsultet).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore, love, and bless the infinite goodness of God, who is pleased to do good to men even after they have offended Him. Man had degraded himself by his sin, the Incarnate Word raises his fallen nature to the highest degree of greatness; man had despoiled himself of the gifts of grace and had debased himself below the devils, God raised him and placed him in a better state than in certain respects his primitive state had been. Let us pour out in His presence all our sentiments of gratitude and love.
First point
God has Raised Human Nature to the Highest Degree of Honour in Jesus Christ.
Here a prodigy offers itself to our meditations which will be the eternal admiration of Paradise. The Word of God uniting Himself with human nature in unity of person, has thereby raised it, not only above all angels, but to an equality with God Himself; for in virtue of the hypostatic union it will be everlastingly true to say that in Jesus Christ, man is God, and that this Man-God has a right to the same homage as God Himself. From His first entrance into the world the angels are commanded to adore Him (heb i:6). In the desert angels come and serve Him (mat iv:11). On the day of the ascension, God the Father makes Him sit at His right hand as His equal (psa cix:1 ; heb viii:1). It will be everlastingly true to say, when speaking of Jesus Christ: the soul of this Man is the soul of a God; His hands are the hands of a God; His body is the body of a God; His heart is the heart of a God; and this body will be adored by all the earth and in the heavens; this heart will be the object of the worship of all creatures in time arid throughout eternity. What an ineffable transformation of our poor nature from such a depth to be raised to such a height! But if God has so greatly honoured human nature in His Word, let us learn to honour it in ourselves by always preserving it pure and holy, always guarded from everything that sullies and degrades, always adorned and embellished with all that is good, edifying, amiable, and honourable (php iv:8).
Second point
God, by the Incarnation, has Placed us in Several Respects in a Better State than our State before the Fall.
God, in fact, through Jesus Christ, was not contented with withdrawing us from the eternal abyss to which we were condemned, to redeem us from the slavery of the demon, and to obtain for us the pardon of our faults (col i:14), but He restores us to His favour and to our heavenly rights, not only once, but every time that we lose them by our sins, however enormous, however multiplied they may be, on the sole condition of confessing them and repenting of them; so that, thanks to the Incarnation, everyone who desires it may be saved: those only damn themselves who desire to be damned. This is not all. The Incarnation, through the assistance of the sacraments, makes us children of God, brothers of a God, members of Jesus Christ, and one and the same body with Him; it makes us share with Him the kingdom of heaven and His own throne (rev iii:21; eph ii:6); it transforms us into temples of the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us (1co vi:19); into living sanctuaries of the divine Eucharist, by which Jesus Christ incorporates Himself in our body and makes of our heart a Paradise upon earth; lastly, it makes us the brothers and co-heirs of the saints, with whom we are destined to reign throughout eternity in glory. O my God! how true it is to say that Thy holy Incarnation has placed us in a better state than the state before the fall; and how great reason Thy Church has to exclaim, when speaking of the fall of Adam: “Happy fault which procured for us such a Redeemer”. But how do we appreciate so great a grace? Do we bless God for it every day? do we love Him for it ever more and more? do we love Him with more zeal?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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