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I Believe Because He Is Here.
We know and easily accept the Incarnation. What a wonderful thing that God became man so that
we could see, hear, and embrace Him. That far away, distant God came to us on our terms so that we
could know, accept, and follow Him. That’s what I would have thought had I lived in Jesus’ time. Yet
He does live and we know that he lives since the Incarnation continues forever because of His glorious
resurrection from the dead. The Incarnation puts the Deists of His time and ours to shame. He is not a
distant, unconcerned God. One proof of God’s love is that He came to visit us so that we may believe,
and by believing have eternal life with Him. Some believed then because he was here; some believe
now because he is still here.
He knew that the cost of His visit, the Revelation of Himself to mankind, would be His death. What
a price to pay! Would I visit my best friend, or even a family member if I knew that my one visit would
cost me my life? Surely, I would hesitate and decide not to go. So, the things he said and did must have
been extremely important. He came here to offer us eternity, friendship, and His love forever, and
that’s important. He came to show us the way to heaven and eternal life, to forgive us and ask us to
repent. He came to redeem us.
But who crucified Him? We did. Our human nature did this to Him. That same human nature he
came to redeem crucified Him. We, those of us living on earth at that time, did this deed. And we did
this because sin was in our lives; and sin could not endure His truth, His light, His goodness. His love
made us “uncomfortable. His Presence was unbearable to sin then as now and forever. It was sin, our
sins, that placed Him on the cross. It was our sins that drove the nails into His hands and feet. We killed
Him to end His visit, to cut it short, to let Him know that he was not welcome. And how did He
respond? He forgave us, and came back to us to visit again. He only left for three days. Just long enough
for us to reflect on the deed that was done. He returned to show us the importance of joining Him
forever in faith, hope and charity.
He is still with us today in His Church that he left behind to show us the way to His home. He is
with us daily through His teachings, sacred scripture, and the sacraments. We are joined to Him in a
special way through the mystery and the love of Holy Communion. He lives; He is still with us and His
invitation will stand until the end of time. Are we ready to say “yes” to eternal life, to regret putting Him
on the cross, and to remove the nails from His hands and feet? Are we ready to do this by repenting of
our sins and promising to never crucify our Savior again by intentionally committing serious sin? Are
we ready to accept His invitation and chose light instead of darkness, love instead of hate, life instead of
death?
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