Emmanuel

I love the word "Emmanuel"; the concept of "God with us" (Mt 1:23) is such a profound mystery.  

The radical idea of Christmas is that God came back to Earth.  Of our own volition Humanity has only rejected God, spat in His face, and broken His heart.  And yet He sent His Son.  God came back to the world that had forsaken Him for our own destruction.

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." (Jn 1:10-11).

As far as we have run away God is relentless for us.  God has already proven that He will do whatever He can to get us back not because of our merit but His great love for us.  I would have given up on myself a long time ago, but God continues to reach out to me.  He believes in my redemption even when I struggle to.  May we seek to be as relentless in our pursuit of God as He is in His pursuit of us

Let us not jump ahead to the Cross just yet, but for now simply marvel in the great mystery of the Incarnation.  Christ has come into the World, and nothing will ever be the same.  May we ponder the implications of this and consider how to embody this faith.