God with us

Yesterday’s Advent reflection from Magnificat brought home the lesson of Immanuel, God with us. Helen Alvare´ writes about “God’s Love for What Is Human,” and she frames her words around the Annunciation in Luke 1. She says, in part, “We see from the beginning of the New Testament God’s willingness to interact directly with human categories such as location, emotion, and the human body.”

She goes on to say that the angel didn’t dismiss Mary’s fears, and that God did not “bypass Mary’s body” in bringing Jesus to us. “Rather, God shows love and respect for the human world he has made, and at the same time he reveals it to us with greater clarity: human procreation is a stunning gift; our towns and homes are places where God lives too…”

I believe that our church, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, is a place where God lives, too, both physically and metaphysically. And if Immanuel saw fit to make St. Vincent’s His dwelling place, it behooves those who are engaged in its destruction to soberly reflect on their motives for undoing what God hath done.