By Deacon Mike Seibert
Connecting Creed and Life
Editor’s note: For 2025, the weekly Connecting Faith and Life column will be renamed Connecting Creed and Life. To celebrate the 2025 Jubilee Year and the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the columns will consist of reflections on the Nicene Creed, corresponding with related paragraphs in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (CCC).
“He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary” (CCC 456-463; 464-469).
STOP! You don’t really believe what you just read, do you? God was conceived in the womb of one of his creatures? God, the creator of all things, actually became one of his creatures?! Inconceivable. Yet we state it as fact in our creed.
Which do you think is more important, “He was conceived” or “was born”? Our culture wouldn’t even ask that question. Birthdays are all that matters: Our age is calculated from the day of our birth. The day we can drive is calculated from the day of our birth. Retirement, Medicare, IRA distributions, life insurance policies — all calculated from the day of our birth.
But think about it — when did you first exist? We know that life begins at the moment of conception, so that means you existed from the moment your parents shared an act of life-giving love. Wouldn’t it make sense that we should be celebrating that moment? On one hand, I get it — we don’t always know the exact date of conception. I mean, your mom didn’t even know that you existed until she threw up one morning.
But we do know when Jesus was conceived: nine months before Christmas. That’s why March 25 is the Solemnity of the Annunciation, when Gabriel informed Mary that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit. At that very moment, Jesus — God — the Divine Logos, the second person of the Trinity, the word … became flesh. It seems to me the Annunciation ought to be a bigger celebration than Christmas! Yet, it’s not even a holy day of obligation.
When I went to the Holy Land, one of my favorite things was how the Gospel would be read at each site telling the story of the event that happened there. What made it special was one word inserted into the reading: “here.” For example, “There was a wedding here in Cana” or “He went up the mountain, and when he had sat down here, his disciples came to him.” Standing in the holy spot and hearing that word, drove home the historicity (reality) of the Gospel. This isn’t just some myth — it’s a real story about real people at a real place at a specific time. And we were there. My absolute favorite spot was the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth where Mary grew up. Across the front of the church are the words, “Verbum Caro Factum Est et Habitavit in Nobis,” which is Latin for “The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us.” When you’re there, it’s mind-blowing to think of young Mary being visited by the mighty angel, Gabriel, and giving her “fiat.” That’s cool in itself, but the highlight for me was the altar in the lower level with the words, “Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est.” Did you notice the difference? “Hic” is the Latin word for “here.” The Word became flesh here!
This is the spot where the Almighty God took flesh! This is where the God of the universe became one of his creatures and made himself completely dependent on his creature, Mary. To other religions, this is scandalous. It’s blasphemous to claim that God actually became an infant and urinated on himself (and worse), and required his human parents to clean him and breastfeed him … inconceivable.
We celebrate that God didn’t remain distant and theoretical. He’s not a purely “spiritual” God; He was “incarnated” — literally, “took on flesh.” This is important! As John said in 1 John 4:1-3, “Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God.” If we DON’T believe God became man, we have been deceived by the Deceiver, who is not of God.
Some people still claim that for God to become man is inconceivable, but he was conceived, and we state it as fact in our creed.