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As the year ends, we are still in the Christmas season, and hopefully always grateful for this gift. We will never truly understand how the Son of God could take on flesh and become one of us. In the same way, we will never understand that one day, we will join Jesus in the eternal life he won for us. All is a mystery, and so is the year we enter into tomorrow. Jesus as one of us, had to grow into some understanding of who he was and what his mission was, and still did not fully understand because he was willing to empty himself of his divinity and that included his capacity to understand. However, he took up his mission not knowing what lies ahead, even though he knew that by bringing his message of "Good News" he faced the anger and resentment of the religious authorities of his day as well as challenging the Roman rule.It is good to meditate on this divine and human nature of Jesus at this time of year, as we think of him as an infant. And that is what he was. He wasn’t born talking and walking as if he had special powers. He needed to be taught. He needed to study God’s word in Scripture. He most likely learned to be a carpenter from Joseph. He also probably drove Mary crazy at times just like any other little boy does his mother. He wouldn’t have known his full nature until his death when he returned to the Father. We need to learn; we need to grow in our faith, in our knowledge of God, in our understanding of Scriptures. We will never understand our mission on this earth and how well or poorly we accomplished it until our death when we return to the Father. So make this coming year one of growth in faith and knowledge of God.Prayer: Lord, we love you. Help us grow closer to you this coming year. We thank you for all the blessings of this past year and trust you to be with us in the next. Amen.