Christmas: The Incarnation and fetomaternal microchimerism (Check it out!)

Readings for Christmas

Christmas is the celebration of the marriage of heaven and earth. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The Creator chose a woman to bear his son and our Savior. We believe that Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, spoken by the Father in time, took on human flesh to show us how to love God and one another. That Word is not foreign to us, but can be discovered in our own bodies, because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are not God, but he has shared something of himself in our bodies. Our bodies tell us something about our relationship with God and with one another. One beautiful example is pregnancy itself.

The Miracle of Pregnancy
There are two ways to live your life. One is believing that nothing is a miracle. The other is believing everything is a miracle, an act of God. Advances in prenatal imaging and the field of immunology have lead to a deeper understanding of the pregnancy. There are two aspects of pregnancy that draw us all deeper into the miracle of birth. The first is the placenta and the second is fetomaternal microchimerism.

The Placenta
The placenta is the only organ in human biology that is made by two persons, together, in cooperation. The placenta is ‘built’ by cooperation between mom and baby. Picture the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo depicted God and Man reaching out for one another, fingers about to touch, but not quite. In the creation of the placenta, cells from the trophoblast, which are from the embryo, reach out towards mom’s uterine wall. At the same time, the spiral arteries from the mom’s uterus reaching out towards her baby. Mom and baby are embracing in a dance that will connect them their entire life. The placenta, one of humanity’s most important organ, affects the health of mother and child throughout their both their lives.

Fetomaternal Microchimerism
In Greek Mythology, the chimera was a fire breathing monster, with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail. (Yes, that is an interesting metaphor for your baby!) In any event, in science, “microchimerism” is the presence of a small population of genetically distinct and separately derived cells within an individual. Fetomaternal microchimerism is the presence of baby’s cell’s in mom’s body, sometimes long after birth.

In pregnancy, mom and baby interact at a cellular level. Baby’s cells have been found in mom’s organs and tissues such as the brain, the breast, the thyroid and the skin, decades after birth. The baby’s cells help to signal mom’s body to lactate. Baby’s cells have been found in mom’s skin, for example, in Cesarean section incisions where they are helping to produce collagen to heal mom. Baby’s cells are not just floating around and doing nothing. They are actively helping mom to produce milk for her baby and to help her heal. The trick, of course, is to how to keep this cooperation going after birth, when baby learns to clean his room and pick up after herself and call when she will be late for dinner. Likewise, Mom and Dad grow in love when they are patient as their children learn and grow. Parents and children are at their best when they are a healing presence in each other’s lives.

Mistakenly, parents in general, and sometimes women in particular, are given the message that billions before you and after you have have become pregnant so, you know, nothing special. It is just natural. Nonsense! The reason you think you and your baby are special is because each mother, father, child relationship is special. Please remember, that baby’s cells are there in their own individuality, hopefully, because of the love of a man. You either believe everything in your life is a miracle or nothing is.

God, the maker of all things and relational in his own Trinitarian nature, reveals in our biology a similar relational nature. We are connected to one another at the deepest level. Our bodies tell us that we are not meant to be singular, autonomous individuals but a communion of person, as in the Trinitarian nature of God.

Christmas: The Wedding of Heaven and Earth
The Incarnation, Jesus Christ, in the womb of his mother, redeemed every stage and aspect of our bodies through which he passed, including our deaths. The Word became flesh in Mary’s uterus making the womb a sacred space, a Tabernacle, that held the Son of God, our Lord and Savior. We call Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Family, because the whole story of Christmas continues with the story of Joseph protecting his wife and child and Jesus growing in wisdom and strength. The biological reality of the placenta and fetomaternal microchimerism, means that some of Jesus’ cells transferred across the placenta into the Blessed Mother. When Jesus physically left his mother, part of him remained in her and remains in her forever. She is the Mother of God.

He remains in us also in the Eucharist. As there is an exchange between Mother and Child in utero, there is an exchange between God and us in the Eucharist, the presence of God dwelling among us. God reaches out to us and we reach out to God. Like the Blessed Mother, when we receive the Eucharist, we become the Tabernacle of the Lord. We are connected at the deepest physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual level with God, through Jesus Christ, as is a child to her mother. We are made for connection with God and each other through the Eucharist.

There are many reasons to celebrate the Feast Christmas:

1. It is a festive time of shared good will, great food and presents,
2. It is a time for families to gather and connect,
3. At the same time, for some, it is a sad time of distance and separation.
4. All are part of the reality of the story of Christmas both in scripture and in our lives.

Christmas, the wedding feast of the Lamb, celebrates the marriage of heaven and earth. Both the goodness and brokenness of our lives are lifted up in thanksgiving to God. At Christmas, our lives are shared, remembered and celebrated in the hope that God, who dwells among his people, heals us and brings us safely home. Remember, at Christmas, we are meant to be connected to God and to one another at the deepest level in our lives, the incarnation of Christ in us as in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
Merry Christmas!

Would you like to read more about the placenta and fetomaternal microchimerism?

Read an interview by Dr. Kristin Marguerite Collier, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School where she practices general Internal Medicine. She serves as an Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and is the Director of the Program’s Primary Care Track. In addition, she is the Director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion.   Click here!