Our deacon gave a homily today about the importance of Christ's entire earthly life as a sacrifice and a humbling act. He gave a fictitious example of Christ coming as a warrior instead and declaring Himself openly to the Israelites after banishing Herod. Unfortunately, he didn't go any further with this line of thinking, saying it doesn't matter how the Israelites would have responded because that's not what happened.

But I think it does matter. The Jewish people were expecting a warrior, someone to free them from their earthly oppressors. They were expecting a show of force and mighty signs of not just healing and forgiveness, but of power. But if God had come as a warrior in that fashion, if Christ had actually appeared and vanquished the Romans with a wave as His hand and shown His might to all the Jewish people, of course they would have bowed down to Him. They would have bowed down to Him because they would have had no other choice. He would have proven His power and even if they doubted in their hearts, they still would have been obliged to worship Him.

He didn't do that, though. He came as a helpless infant. He wandered through the streets healing lepers and forgiving sinners and teaching. His mightiest miracles were worked for people who already had great faith in Him. They were not used to prove His power. They were used to demonstrate His love.

God gave us free will, and He refuses to take that away from us. No matter how much it breaks His heart to see us stray from Him, He will never force us to love us. Love, by its very definition, cannot be forced. And He wants our love, not just our allegiance. He doesn't want us to simply follow a list of rules. He wants us to love Him and to know Him. That choice must be made freely, and coming as a mighty warrior who vanquished foes with a wave of His hand, although of course possible for God, would not have left us free to choose whether to love Him, to choose whether to follow Him.

He came as an infant so that we might love Him. We must choose whether to kneel before the helpless babe in the manger, the child who comes to us from the very beginning as a humble servant. He sleeps in a place reserved for food. The Great Shepherd comes to feed His sheep, and He reveals Himself immediately as their nourishment. He will feed us with Himself. Mary and Joseph have the privilege of clothing Him, feeding Him, providing for Him. He who is so mighty He requires nothing, He who no man could ever look upon and survive, He who could have anything He desired simply by willing it, makes Himself completely dependent on others. He allows them to love Him, to care for Him.

And He continues to do so. He is constantly present on Earth in the form of, once again, food. Just as He was in His infancy, in the Eucharist, He once again humbles Himself, this time to assuming the accidents of bread and wine. Once again, He appears as helpless. We keep Him enthroned in gold boxes. We sit watch with Him through the night, just as Mary and Joseph did the night He was born. We guard Him against people who would desecrate the Eucharist. We reverently adore Him. We welcome Him into our very selves, to take up residence in our hearts. Just as Mary and Joseph were granted the ability to love Him on Earth as a child, we are granted the opportunity to love Him in the Eucharist, and when we choose to love Him, a choice that we must make freely, we receive the greatest love in all of existence in return.

I'm praying for you!

:)