Jesus, Mercy Incarnate

more exact, it is about the coming of the divine Son, initially, as a little child to save us. That is where the wonder began. The Babe in the manger was the foundation stone, the beginning of it all. It has been truly said that the root of the Tree of Life was the wood of His cradle. After all, the millennium does not mark 2,000 years since Christ’s Resurrection or His Cross. Rather, it marks 2,000 years since His Incarnation : that miracle-moment, long ago, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, first hidden in the womb of His Blessed Mother, and then manifested to the shep- herds on Christmas night, and to the wise men led by a star. Pope John Paul II himself focused our attention on this aspect of the Faith when he entitled his official proclamation of the Jubilee Year “Incarnationis Mysterium” (The Mystery of the Incarnation). The Holy Father wrote: The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is not an event which can be consigned to the past. The whole of human history in fact stands in reference to him: our own time and the future of the world are illumined by his presence.... In the encounter with Christ everyman discovers the mystery of his own life.... The Incarnation of the Son of God and the salvation which he has accomplished by his death and resurrection are therefore the true criteria for evaluating all that happens in time and every effort to make life more human. 1 The fact is that Christians have always tried to mark the days of history from this centre-point: from our best reckoning of the days of Christ’s Birth and Infancy. Thus, the years before it became “B.C.” and the years following after it are called “A.D.” Clearly, the reason we have made that reckoning, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is that this wondrous time was the very turning point of the whole story of the human race. Before that time, Almighty God was in His heaven, governing the course of mankind on earth. But since the miracle of the Incarnation occurred, everything has changed. As one theologian put it, by means of the Incarnation: “this mysterious and ineffable God, out of pure love for mankind... 20 Jesus, Mercy Incarnate