The Word became Flesh

The Spirituality of the Incarnation aims to help members of the Movement to live out the Word of God. The Virgin Mary receives the Word of God within her. She carries Jesus, nurtures him and offers him to the world, and it is Jesus who saves the world. If Jesus lives within us, if he is present within us, then he will continue to save the members of his body and give them life. ‘God desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim 2:4). This is the core, the defining feature of the spirituality of the Incarnation. ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Gal 2:20). To let Jesus live in us—that is our spirituality. Jesus himself tells us: ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them’ (Jn 14:21–23). When I accept the Word of God, when I live by it, when I say ‘yes’ to God, Jesus comes to live within me. On this subject, Pope Benedict XVI says in *Verbum Domini*: ‘Christ comes to dwell in our lives. Every Christian who believes, as Saint Ambrose reminds us, conceives and brings forth, in a certain sense, the Word of God within themselves: whilst there is only one Mother of Christ according to the flesh, according to faith, Christ is the fruit of all. ‘So what happened to Mary can happen to each one of us every day, as we listen to the Word of God and celebrate the sacraments’.

The ‘Word of God’ groups live out the Spirituality of the Incarnation, which consists in allowing Jesus to dwell within each member who lives out the Word of God. Living out the Word of God is like a magnet that draws Jesus into us. He becomes present within us just as at the Incarnation. Pope Benedict XVI says that the Incarnation is the greatest miracle in the universe. Every member of the ‘Parole de Dieu’ groups performs miracles by living out the Word of God. Every Christian who lives out the Word experiences the same thing. When Jesus lives within us, everything we do for him – such as evangelisation – is imbued with a powerful inner energy and a new fervour, for Pope Paul VI says that one of the greatest obstacles to evangelisation is a lack of fervour (Evangeli Nuntiendi). And even if I do not open my mouth to preach or share the Gospel, Jesus, living within me, does so: He touches and saves, silently within me. When the Virgin Mary, already carrying Jesus within her, simply went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the latter, upon Mary’s greeting, was filled with the Holy Spirit. The child within her was filled with the Holy Spirit. What God expects of us is to embody his Word, to live out his Word. Often, we do too many things for God without Jesus dwelling within us. Then we are like empty vessels, clanging cymbals.

Like the Virgin Mary, our main task is to live out the Word of God. ‘My task, O Lord, is to keep your Word’ (Ps 119:57). If this is our task, then we must devote ourselves to it. To be professionals in living out the Word. A professional sportsman makes that sport his main activity. Putting God’s Word into practice should become an art in my life – something I do beautifully, taking time for it. The world needs people who live out God’s Word. How many problems would be solved if everyone set about living out the Word of God. How many families would be at peace if all their members lived out the Word of God. How many parents would be pleased with their children if the latter were concerned with living out the Word of God? How flourishing our parish communities would be if the choirs, liturgical groups and others lived out the Word of God. How marvellous it would be if all Christians were truly living out the Word of God. What happiness, what peace, what joy would radiate throughout the world!

The world needs a new revolution: that of the Word put into practice. The Virgin Mary is here to help us in this endeavour, for she, par excellence, lived out the Word of God. Lord, Holy Spirit, help me to please Jesus by living out his Word, especially during this Christmas season.

Henri Bayemi