Saturday, March 18 : Saint Peter Chrysologus

Christ’s incarnation is not a normal event, it is miraculous; it is not according to reason but to divine power; it comes from the Creator, not from nature; it is not commonplace, it is unique; it is divine, not human. It did not come about through necessity but by power… It has been a mystery of faith, renewal and salvation for man. He who, without being born, formed man out of pure clay (Gn 2,7), in being born formed a man from a pure body. The hand that deigned to take hold of clay in order to create us, deigned also to take hold of our flesh to recreate us… O man, why do you despise yourself so, seeing that you are so precious to God? Why, when God thus shows you honor, do you dishonor yourself so much? Why try to discover how you were made but not the purpose for which you were made? Isn’t it true that the whole visible dwelling-place of this earth has been made for you?… Christ took flesh in order to restore its full integrity to corrupted nature. He assumed the condition of a child; he accepted to be nourished; he went through the succession of ages so as to restore the one, perfect and enduring age that he himself had created. He carried man so that man might fall no more. He whom he had created earthly, he made heavenly; to him who lived by a human spirit he gives the life of the divine spirit. And so it is that he raises him up to God in his completeness so as to leave nothing in him of what belongs to sin, death, labour, sorrow or the earth. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ brings us who, being God, lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and for always, world without end.
maronite readings – rosary,team