Happy Birthday God

By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in your divinity as you came to share in our humanity.

The Deacon at Mass, or the priest if no Deacon is present prepares the chalice for the consecration by pouring wine into the cup and adding a few drops of water. While adding the water spoken softly are the words: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in your divinity as you came to share in our humanity”. 

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus coming to share in our humanity. He came fully human and as some theologians and scholars have affirmed, he shares human DNA. This is God’s great gift to us. He loved us enough to create us in his image…and when he created us in his image, he said it was VERY GOOD. This is the day we acknowledge the image was so very good that Jesus took on this human form. The savior is called Emmanuel which translates to “God is with us”. 

Christmas is celebrating Jesus as God, as the second person of the Trinity, becoming human. Think about it, 2025 years ago Jesus was born on earth, BUT he is not 2025 years old. As St. Augustine taught,” God is younger than all else”, and Augustine told us that God is older than all else. This is the definition of an infinite God. There are no limits. That means when the Church teaches us Jesus came to share in our humanity and have us share in His divinity there are no limits. 

God the Son came on Earth to teach us, and to guide us, and to touch us with his great love. He came to share in our humanity and as we hear in the liturgy every day, he calls us to share in His divinity. 

God’s limitless love is offering us eternal life and time to be in the presence of God forever. This is the incarnation. This is our central belief as Christians: God became flesh. He shared in our humanity so we could have the opportunity to share God’s loving presence forever. 

Happy Birthday, God.

 De Colores,

Paul Kudrav, Deacon