This talk this evening, I would characterize it as sort of skipping stones across the pond.

We're going to be slowly just pointing out little, fun little things,

theological truths and thoughts from the Thomistic tradition,

from Catholic doctrine and Catholic belief, about question about God, human nature, body, flesh, and Catholic belief.

To begin, let me just remind you of a passage from the scripture that we're all, with which we are all very familiar.

It's from the opening verses of the Gospel of John.

You know it.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

Now, after those wonderful verses, of which all of us have heard numerous times, several

verses later, John the Evangelist writes the great truth at the heart of Christianity,

and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.

We have beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father.

What I hope to show this evening in our time together is that this truth about Jesus Christ,

that He took flesh in the incarnation, is not simply an afterthought or a sort of plot point, if you will, in God's story of salvation.

It's intrinsic.

It is the reason for our salvation.

It's the reason, it's intrinsic to the salvation that Jesus Christ achieves for you and I.

And it's because the word, God himself, took flesh,

that Christians have been meditating and thinking about very concrete and tangible realities

for 2,000 years, like the importance and meaning of the body, the importance and dignity of human nature,

because now God has assumed the human nature. So tonight I'm going to share with you some of the fruits, as I say, skipping stones,

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