Fr. Paul Schenck on God the Fetus: The Pre-Natal Incarnation

Fr. Paul Schenck is a Pro-Life hero who not only 'talks the talk', but has walked the walk. In this inspiring article he reflects on the truth that the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, lived through every age and stage of life. He reminds us that what the Bible calls the fruit of the womb, the culture of death calls 'the contents of the uterus'. Jesus was an embryo and a child in the womb!

P>HARRISBURG, PA (National Pro-Life Center) - It would be accurate to say that it was in Mary's second month or so that it became apparent to Joseph and Mary that she was indeed pregnant. Today medical science can describe what happened:

By the end of the first month after conception occurred, the embryo within Mary was about 1/10 of an inch long. His Sacred Heart, no larger than a poppy seed, began beating.

The divine embryo grew to one inch long and had distinct, slightly webbed fingers. Veins were clearly visible. The placenta was already nourishing the Christ Child through the umbilical cord. The heart divided into right and left chambers.

All His major body organs and systems then formed. His ears, ankles, and wrists were also formed. Lids rolled across his eyeballs, but they were sealed shut. His fingers and toes developed.

After eight weeks as an embryo, the Baby Jesus was a "fetus." By the end of the second month, the fetus took on the appearance of a human child, was about one inch long, and still weighed less than one ounce.

His fingers and toes had soft nails on them. His mouth as lined with 20 buds that would become baby teeth. Today, Jesus' heartbeat could have been heard by using a special instrument called a "doptone." For the rest of Mary's pregnancy, all the Lord's body organs matured and the God-fetus gained weight.

By the end of the second month, He was four inches long and weighed a little over one ounce. By the end of the first trimester, Jesus was 2-1/2 or 3 inches long and fully formed. He had begun swallowing and kicking. All His organs and muscles had formed and were functioning.

Sadly, today "fetus" has become a term used to dehumanize the unborn child. But the Old Testament prophets, the Gospels, St. Paul, the Book of Revelation, and the Creed all describe the phenomenon of God becoming a fetus. It may be entirely new, but absolutely necessary to contemplate this ineffable occurrence.

God the Fetus! Think of it. He consisted of eternal strength, omniscience self-restrained and self-limited for nine months. Incomprehensible! God in the womb! It is no wonder that Mary was blessed above all women. What a blessing to carry God in her womb.

God the Fetus! Today, that is like calling God by a racial epithet or an ethnic slur. At a previous time, one's skin color or nationality was equal to being somehow 'subhuman'.

Today, what the Bible calls "the fruit of the womb," the culture of death calls "the contents of the uterus." This marvel is considered to be minor, expendable, and burdensome. Since it is unwanted, it should be evacuated, aborted. But that was God in the womb. God the fetus! Mary was the Mother of the Prenatal Incarnation.

In the Greek and Eastern Christian Church, Catholic and Orthodox, Mary is called Theotokos, or "the God bearer." What could that mean, a woman carrying God in her body? 

The Canon of St. Andrew of Crete exults: "O pure Virgin, [who] has contained Him who by nature cannot be contained; [who] has held Him who upholds all things; [who] hast given such to Him who sustains the creation, Christ the Giver of Life."

It is this Life that comes to Elizabeth and her unborn child, and it is this Life who comes to us today.

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Fr. Paul Schenck, a Priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA., is the founding Director of the National Pro-Life Center (NPLC) on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Center gives the Justices of the Supreme Court, their high level staff, members of the federal judiciary, members of the US Senate and other public policy makers the information, education and inspiration they need to better form their consciences so they will make better decisions. He is a Champion of the Pro-Life movement.

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