Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Annunciation: The mystery of man's reconciliation with God

By Pope Saint Leo the Great
3/25/2009
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself.Thus the Son of God enters this lowly world.


One and the same person – this must be said over and over again – is truly the Son of God and truly the son of man. He is God in virtue of the fact that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is man in virtue of the fact that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - On this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord we offer these inspired words from Pope St. Leo the Great for our readers:

From a letter by Saint Leo the Great, pope, The mystery of man's reconciliation with God

Lowliness is assured by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.

He who is true God was therefore born in the complete and perfect nature of a true man, whole in his own nature, whole in ours. By our nature we mean what the Creator had fashioned in us from the beginning, and took to himself in order to restore it.

For in the Saviour there was no trace of what the deceiver introduced and man, being misled, allowed to enter. It does not follow that because he submitted to sharing in our human weakness he therefore shared in our sins.

He took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself.
more...

posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 11:50 AM