LAY DOMINICANS Central Province USA

Merry Christmas everyone!  The Christmas season is a wonderful time of the liturgical year to commemorate and remember the first coming of Christ when the Word became man.  Ever since the world has never been the same;  we all have been transformed by the Incarnation. 

Christ told us of the second coming when He will return at the end of time in triumphant glory.  Although we might not be alive at this time, our bodies will arise out of our graves in glory.

St. Bernard writes about the third coming of Christ as quoted in the second reading of the Office of Readings for Wednesday, first week of Advent.  Reread it;  it's true.  The first two comings Christ has or will come in visible form; the third coming, between the other two, He comes invisibly.  This coming is often forgotten or not fully understood.  St. Bernard, one of our greatest saints and a Cistercian, reminds us by quoting Jesus Himself:  "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him."   (John 14:23)

This coming of Christ happens in different forms:  He comes to us in the Eucharistic celebration and Holy Communion, hidden under the appearance of bread and wine;  He comes in the sacraments;  He is present in the tabernacle and in Eucharistic adoration.  Fortunately for us, if we keep His word, He is present in us day and night, in Church and out.  God has taken up residence in our humble bodies and spirits.

The appreciation of this truth is evidenced in the writings of the great Mystics.  A deeper understanding of this through prayer will transform us and bring us happiness, regardless of external happenings and deepen our relationship with Him and our neighbors.  Reread St. Bernard.  The third coming is "a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last."  We do not travel alone!  The more we realize this, the more we are transformed into Christ, as St. Paul says, "I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me."  (Gal. 2: 19) 

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