death on a cross” (Phil 2:5-8).
In a homily in the Square of Our Lady of Loreto on October 4, 2012,
Pope Benedict XVI said: “The incarnation of the Son of God speaks to
us of how important we are to God and God to us.” And elsewhere:
“God’s dialogue with us becomes truly human since God conducts
his part as man” (Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life (2007). What
was inconceivable to the human mind , that divinity should assume
humanity, became crucial to God’s plan of redemption.
This relentless movement of God downward continues in the Eucharist,
where lowly bread and wine, not frail humanity, reveal his presence
and his saving power. Pope Francis expresses it in this way: “A God who
draws near out of love walks with his people, and this walk comes to
an unimaginable point. We could never have imagined that the same
Lord would become one of us and walk with us, be present with us,
present in his Church, present in the Eucharist, present in his word,
present in the poor. . . . And this is closeness: the shepherd close to his
flock, close to his sheep, whom he knows, one by one.”
As Christ in the incarnation and in the Eucharist empties himself and
draws near to us, his grace at work in us enables us to do the same, to
be “gift” to him and to others!
In This Issue
I believe you will find this issue to be quite rich. There are theological
works, reflections on family life and on priestly ministry in the light of
the Eucharist, and meditations for the close of the year, the start of
the new liturgical year, and the coming Advent season and Christmas.
Enjoy!
Anthony Schueller, SSS
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