Full of this understanding of the incarnation, a Christian hymn of the fourth century thus sings of the feast of Christmas:

“While deepest night,
dark and tranquil,
wrapped with its silence vales and hills,
the Son of God was born of a virgin
and obedient to the Father’s will
began his life as man on earth”.

The beginning of a man’s life on earth: perhaps just for this extreme simplicity the message of Christmas is so universal. It is in fact a simple message, within the reach of all, beginning with the poor shepherds of Bethlehem, yet it is the announcement of a great mystery, because that son of man who is born will pass in a very ordinary manner most of his life: he will pass among other men doing good, he will work the great miracle of refound communion with God and with others using signs and marvels connected with man’s basic needs: bread and wine multiplied, health restored, nature again reconciled with man, fraternal relations reestablished, life reaffirmed as stronger than death. For this reason the apostle Paul says that the manifestation of Christ in the world has as its scope “to teach us to live in this world” (Tt 2:11-12).