How can we find God in and through the flesh? We cannot, unless God comes into the flesh to meet us. This flesh that we so often take for granted, ignore, use or abuse; this flesh with all its endemic weakness and proneness to suffering; its need to be kept warm and shielded from hurt. This is where God encounters us. And it is this encounter that we celebrate at Christmas. And so let us stop running from ourselves, from one another and from God.
Madonna and Child, detail, Sandro Botticelli and workshop, Vienna.
Reflection by Abbot Damian.