This poem, along with other Ignatian prayers, poems, reflections and art, first appeared in our free e-book, “Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: Through the Year with Ignatian Spirituality.” Sign up to receive it at jesuits.org/ebook.
By Shannon Evans
The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
The Word that existed before all things;
the Word that holds all things together.
This Word—the Word, the Sacred Word
that spoke life and breath into being—
became flesh.
The Word became flesh and dwelt in skin;
in bumps and bruises;
in sickness and longing;
in laughter and grief;
in loneliness and fear.
The Word became flesh and knew us, oh
how we have been known!
Come, let us adore the Word.
Come, let us adore the Flesh.
Come, let us revel in our humanity;
this condition that Divine Love has declared
Sacred.
For the Word became flesh
and dwells among us.
Shannon K. Evans is the author of “Rewilding Motherhood” and “Embracing Weakness: The Unlikely Secret to Changing the World.” Her writing has been featured in America and Saint Anthony Messenger magazines, as well as online at Ruminate, Verily, Huffington Post, Grotto Network and others. Shannon, her husband and their five children make their home in central Iowa.