Advent Meditation~By St. Alphonsus de Liguori (December 11)

[Dawn Marie]

THE MYSTERIES OF THE FAITH

THE INCARNATION

Discourse by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

December 11, 2014

 

Discourse 12

 

“The Eternal Word from being His Own has made Himself Ours+

 

Parvulus natus est nobis, et Filius datus est nobis.

 

“A child is born to us, and a Son is given to us.”---- Is. Xi. 6.

 

Tell me, cruel Herod, why dost thou command so many innocent babes to be murdered and sacrificed  to thy ambition of reigning? Art thou perchance afraid that  the Messiah lately born may rob thee of thy kingdom?  “Why art thou so troubled, Herod?” asks St. Fulgentius.  “This King who is born came not to vanquish kings by fighting, but to subdue them by dying.”  This King, of whom thou art in such terror, is not come to conquer the monarchs of the earth by force of arms, but He is come to reign in the hearts of men by suffering and dying for their love.”  “He came, therefore,” concludes St. Fulgentius, “not that He might combat alive, but that He might triumph slain.”  Our amiable Redeemer did not come to carry on war during His life, but to triumph over the love of men, when He should have laid down His life on the gibbet of the Cross, as He Himself said:  “When I shall be lifted up, I will draw all things to Myself.”

 

But let us leave Herod aside, O devout souls, and let us come to ourselves. Why, then, did the Son of God come upon earth, was it to give Himself to us? Yes. Isaias assures us of it:  “A child is born to us, and a Son is given to us.”  The love which this loving Saviour bears us, and the desire which He has to be loved by us, has induced Him to do this. Being His own, He has become ours. Let us see it; but let us first ask light from the Most Holy Sacrament and from the Divine Mother.

 

The greatest privilege of God, nay, the whole of God, is to be His own, that is, to exist of Himself, and to depend on no one. All creatures, however grand and excellent they may be, are nothing in reality, because whatsoever they have, they have from God, who has created them and preserves them; and this in such a manner that if God were for a single moment to cease from preserving them, they would instantly lose their being and return to nothing. God, on the contrary, because He exists of Himself, cannot fail; nor can there be anyone to destroy Him, or to diminish His greatness, His power or His happiness.

 

But St. Paul says that the Eternal Father has given the Son to us:  “He delivered Him up for us all.”  And that the Son has given Himself for us:  “Christ also hath loved us and hath delivered Himself for us.”  Has God, then, in giving Himself for us, made Himself ours?  Yes, replies St. Bernard:  “He is born, who belonged to Himself; he who wholly appertained to Himself chose to be born for us and to become ours; love triumphs over God.”  This God, over whom none besides can rule, has, so to speak, yielded Himself captive to love; love has gained the victory over Him, and from being His own has reduced Him into our possession:  “God so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son.”   God has so loved men“, says Jesus Christ, “that He has even given them His only-begotten Son. And the Son Himself, also through love, was pleased to give Himself to men to be loved by them.

 

In diverse ways had God already striven to win the hearts of men, at one time with benefits, at another with threats and again with promises; but He had still fallen short of His aim. His infinite love, says St. Augustine, made Him devise the plan of giving Himself entirely to us by the Incarnation of the Word, in order thus to oblige us to love Him with our whole hearts.  “Then Love found out the plan of delivering up Itself.”

He could have sent an angel, a seraph, to redeem man, but, aware that man, had he been redeemed by a seraph, would have had to divide his heart, by partly loving his Creator and partly loving his redeemer. God, who would possess the entire heart and the entire love of man, “wished therefore to be,” says a pious author, “both our Creator and Redeemer;” as He was our Creator, so He would likewise become our Redeemer.

[bernadette szczepkowski]

A lot to think about...how much God loves us!

[Dawn Marie]

Just incredible is God's love for man....incredible+