There is an interesting story of an atheist who considered faith in the incarnation of Jesus as absurd. On a Christmas night when all the believers where in the Church to celebrate the birth of Christ, he stayed back at home. That night there was big thunder storm and heavy rain. Many branches of trees fell down. This man who was inside his house heard the cry of a small bird which had fallen down in his courtyard along with the branches. When he came out and looked, he saw a very small and beautiful bird. Because of the rain and thunderstorm, the bird was frightened, the feathers were wet and so it could not fly.

When he saw this beautiful bird, he felt compassion for it and he wanted to take it inside and give it some grains to eat. As he was trying to catch it, it was jumping away from him in fear. He made many attempts to catch it, but he could not. Then he thought to himself; “if only I could just communicate to this bird and make the bird understand my love and concern for it.” As he was thinking this in his mind, he heard the sound of church bell announcing the birth of Jesus. Then a thought flashed in his mind that there is a similarity about the story of incarnation and the thought he had in his mind as he was attempting to save that small frightened bird.

St. John in his Gospel puts the purpose of the coming of Christ in this way; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn3:16). The word became flesh so that we might know God’s love: “In this the love God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 Jn4:9). On the purpose of Incarnation St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote the following beautiful words;

Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?

About the Author:

Fr. Binoy Puthusery, C.M. is a Vincentian priest belonging to the Southern Indian Province. He was ordained as priest on December 27, 2008 and soon after served as an assistant parish priest in Tanzania.  In 2011, after two years of ministry, he was appointed as Spiritual Director to the Vincentian Sisters of Mercy, Mbinga Tanzania. He currently lives in Barakaldo (Spain), and is a teacher in the Masters in Vincentian Studies.