"It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience."

St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church

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"The essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all things, prosperous or adverse. In prosperity, even sinners find it easy to unite themselves to the divine will; but it takes saints to unite themselves to God's will when things go wrong and are painful to self-love. Our conduct in such instances is the measure of our love of God."

St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"Though the path is plain and smooth for people of good will, those who walk it will not travel far, and will do so only with difficulty if they do not have good feet, courage, and tenacity of spirit. "

St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church

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"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life"  - John 14:6

The Incarnation

IN BRIEF

At the time appointed by God, the only Son of the Father, the eternal Word, that is, the Word and substantial Image of the Father, became incarnate; without losing his divine nature he has assumed human nature.

Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity of his divine person; for this reason he is the one and only mediator between God and men.

Jesus Christ possesses two natures, one divine and the other human, not confused, but united in the one person of God's Son.

Christ, being true God and true man, has a human intellect and will, perfectly attuned and subject to his divine intellect and divine will, which he has in common with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Incarnation is therefore the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures in the one person of the Word.

- Paras 479 to 453 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church

For a fuller explanation of this mystery, go to this commentary on the Summa Theologica of St Thomas Aquinas.