- Catholic Dictionary, p. 405
The mystery of the Incarnation is one of the greatest mysteries of our Catholic faith. Without it, nothing else we believe in would have happened or mattered. Essentially, the Incarnation, which we celebrate at Christmas, is when Jesus, as the Second Person of the Trinity, became fully human while still remaining fully divine. The word “incarnation” comes from the Latin for “to become flesh” and this is literally what is happening. The Word of God is becoming flesh so that we might be saved. There is a saying, “There can be no Good Friday without Christmas and no cross without the crib.” If Jesus had not become human in the Incarnation, He would not have been able to give His life for us on the cross and rise from the dead to conquer sin and death. This is why Christmas is second only to Easter among the Church’s feast days.