What's the Most Important Thing?

Our morning routine usually begins with my four sons and I eating breakfast together while we allow Mommy to get a few extra minutes of sleep. We then go on to do a few morning chores. The morning ends with loading the troops into the family mini van so the older two can get to school on time. The last thing I ask my boys is,"What's the most important thing?" to which they respond, "Knowing and loving God!" (Aidan, our 3 year old, will usually throw in a, "get your money and put it in your piggy bank," which is a reference to the fact that I am about to go to work.)

My boys understand that God is someone to be known and loved. That is because God knows and loves us. It is in the Incarnation that we truly see this. Jesus doesn't just represent God to us...Jesus presents God to us. Jesus shows us the "I AM", the One who is existence, and introduces Him as Father. Ultimately, Jesus shows us that God is "Abba" or "Daddy."

This is amazing. I can't even wrap my mind around God as an eternal being but Mary wrapped her arms around Jesus: God present to us in time and space. God is the uncreated creator but enters into creation in the person of Jesus.

Let us not forget the importance of this. This is why we bow our heads when we say, "...he came down from Heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." This is truly the moment in time when Heaven and Earth meet.

As Advent comes to a close, we must remember that this is the time when we await the coming of our Lord just as Jews awaited the Messiah who would gather all of Israel into one fold. Not only are we gathered into one fold, but we are gathered into one body, His Body. We commune with God!

Come, Lord Jesus!