A b s t r a c t. The Solemnity of the Nativity includes four formulas for celebrating the mystery of the Incarnation. Thanks to the unique theological crescendo, the Lectionary texts lead the community to the depths of this mystery in order to discover its meaning. The Lectionary readings take into account the direction of the interpretation of the mystery of the Incarnation, appropriate for both bottom-up and top-down Christology. In preaching a homily, we ought to rather appreciate the

more »

... up approach appropriate for Christology that is dynamic and functional. A homily for this celebration should lead the faithful to contemplate God, who in Jesus Christ comes to meet man and is incarnated in human history, living in solidarity with mankind. In this way, he restores the transcendent dimension of human existence. By renewing the mystery of the Incarnation in the liturgy, God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit, enables man to be united with His Son so that he could open man to his first image of God, which was distorted by original sin. The homily is also to show how this mystery continues on in the life of believers through the implementation of Jesus' existence that is revealed in the humility of the Incarnation and the poverty of the birth in a Bethlehem shed.