2. Prayer: Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mk. 2 Dear God, you gave us the Sabbath to rest in you. How often I misuse it for catching up, being busy about many things. What I need is to rest in you by resting within my family. Help me! Amen.

3. Journal: Read Genesis 1:1-5 & John 1. Reflect on the power of words. -Do you create with your own words? -Why do you think God creates with speech?

4. The Power of Words Language sets us apart from other creatures. Friends, Romans, and countrymen; lend me your ears.

5. Words can do much good. But they can also do great harm. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.

6. The most important word ever spoken is the Word of God. The prologue of the Gospel of John calls the Son of God “The Word” – o logo . The Word of God became man in Jesus Christ.

7. The Incarnation of Jesus The Incarnation is the essential Christian belief that the Son of God became human in the person of Jesus Christ.

8. We celebrate the conception of the Son of God at the Annunciation. With Mary’s “yes,” the Son of God became human. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell how the angel Gabriel brought Mary the news of God’s plan for the salvation of the world, and how she named her baby Jesus, which means “YHWH is salvation,” or “savior.”

9. Today, we associate Christmas with gift giving. This is appropriate, for on the first Christmas, God gave us the greatest gift of all – his Son. The Nativity refers to the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, nine months after the Annunciation.

10. The presence of Joseph is strongly felt in the Gospels. We know Joseph was a man of tremendous faith and great courage. He raised Jesus to become a man of love, gentleness, and hard work. Joseph should also be an example for us of these important values.

11. While the Gospel of John does not describe the Christmas story, it makes a powerful statement about the origins of Jesus. In the Prologue of John’s Gospel, the evangelist makes it clear that Jesus is true God and true man. He wrote this to combat a heresy called Docetism, which said that Jesus only appeared to be human.

12. Why did God become human? The Purpose of the Incarnation ► To reconcile us with God. ► To show us God’s love. ► To be our model for holiness. ► To enable us to share in God’s nature.

13. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= wcmGmao-TJA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 9_tCtvmAm4M

14. For Review: pg. 34, 1-4 & pg. 38, 1-2 1. What is the Incarnation? 2. What does the word Jesus mean? 3. What is the feast of the Annunciation? 4. What was Docetism and why did the Church see it as a heresy? 1. Where did knowledge about Jesus originally come from? 2. How have Catholics received the testimony of the Apostles about Jesus?