The mystery and indeed the scandal of the Incarnation, the subject of Christmas and also Easter and Ascension Day, is that God took on flesh in space and time: middle-eastern, Jewish, male.
One of the great blessings of Catholic Christianity is that it affirms both the earthiness and the enchantment of the world we live in. There is no shying away from the stark realities of our physicality.
We bear the weight that surrounds us in the daily trappings of life: waking, sleeping, eating, drinking, working, concerning oneself with the plight of one's neighbor. These things are a joy at times, but at others they sit heavily across the shoulders.
