Jesus was conceived and made man at the Annunciation; the day the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God. We commemorate the Annunciation on March 25. “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said,
‘Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you’.
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her,
‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David his father, and He will rule over the House of Jacob forever, and of His Kingdom there shall be no end’.
But Mary said to the angel,
‘How can this be, since I do not know man?’
And the angel said to her in reply,
‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will over-shadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’….Mary said, ‘Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word’” (Luke 1 26-38).
How was the Son of God made Man?
The conception of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary is attributed to the power of the third Person of the Blessed Trinity because the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and the Son, and the Incarnation is a work of God’s great love for mankind. All three persons of the Blessed Trinity performed the act of divine power whereby the Incarnation took place. But Catholic faith teaches that only the second Person took to himself a human nature. “The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35).
Christ Confirmed His Testimony by His Miracles.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above Him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven”. Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins”? Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so He said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”, He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home”. This miracle of healing shows that Jesus had the power of God.
The Greatest of His Miracles was His Resurrection from the Dead
Before His death Jesus predicted His Resurrection, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Matt. 12:39-40).
Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. After His Resurrection, He showed in many convincing ways that He was alive. Jesus appeared to many people. Jesus who had died appeared to His disciples on Easter Sunday. They saw Him and touched Him and He ate with them.
When the Apostle Thomas, who had missed Jesus’ appearance, expressed disbelief, Jesus appeared again while Thomas was present, and told him to put his finger into the place of the nail in his hand and to put his hand into the wound in His side made by the spear of the centurion. Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed "(John 20:28-29).
