Incarnate Grace for a Penitential Season

Day 7: Why Lent Begins with Incarnate Grace

When Jesus entered our world in human flesh, he brought everything that heaven could offer. One of the great blessings from heaven is grace. John’s Gospel gives us this gift:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And then a couple of verses later, he writes:

And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Jesus entered our world in the flesh; he was the incarnate Son of God, which means that grace is incarnate as well, dressed in human flesh. Lent reminds us that Christianity never begins with our effort but with God’s nearness. Before fasting, before repentance, before discipline, the Church announces that grace has already arrived. We do not journey toward grace during Lent; we journey because grace has come near in Jesus.