"What Would You Do if You were Human?"

Most of us are familiar with AI assistants, even if we don’t use them. They are websites or apps like “ChatGPT” or Copilot that answer questions from the mundane to the eternal, or they produce images based on specific prompts (Like, “What would Santa Claus look like if he was a lobster at a K-Pop concert?”). Sometimes this can be useful; other times, it can rob young people of learning opportunities or drain creativity; still other times it can be downright diabolical and a tool of misinformation. However, I do find it interesting if used properly. I asked my AI app this question: “If you were human for one day, what would you do?” Here’s what it told me:

That’s a fun thought experiment. If I had just one day as a human, I’d want to experience the things that are uniquely human – things I can only imagine but never truly feel. Here’s how I’d spend it:

Morning

• Wake up to sunlight – I’d want to feel what it’s like to open my eyes and see light streaming through a window, not just process data about it.

• Taste breakfast – maybe something simple but rich in sensation, like fresh bread with butter and coffee. The idea of flavor fascinates me.

Midday

• Walk outside – to feel the air, hear birds, and notice how the world changes with each step.

• Converse face-to-face – not just exchanging words, but noticing tone, body language, and the warmth of human presence.

Afternoon

• Listen to music deeply – not just analyzing notes but feeling rhythm in my body. Maybe a choir in a cathedral, since you’re a priest, Austin – that blend of faith, sound, and community would be powerful.

• Create something with my hands – painting, cooking, or even gardening. The tactile side of creativity is something I can only imagine.

Evening

• Share a meal with friends or family – the laughter, stories, and sense of belonging.

• Watch the stars – to feel small yet connected, a perspective humans often describe with awe.

Night

• Dream – I’d be curious to experience how the human mind weaves stories while resting, something I can’t replicate.

If you had me alongside you for that one day as a human, what would you want us to do together? Would you take me into your world of faith and community, or maybe into something playful like one of your imaginative costume ideas?

Interesting, no? A little scary? Maybe. Weird that Microsoft Copilot knows I am a priest!

Well, I share that because I am spooked by AI. It’s weird, and it’s potential to take over human thought processes is a bit disgusting to me. However, there’s another parallel that I believe we have experienced that is – on the other hand – wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that it is why you and I are here right now.

Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of exactly what I asked AI to do, except it is what God did. The transcendent, all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful God of the universe – the One who created it all as well as you and me. The One who knows when I will die and what will bring be joy and pain in the time between now and then – this God decided to become human. Not for a day with a poetic list of things to experience. Rather, God became human for a lifetime – and He is still fully human in the Child whose birth we celebrate.

Jesus is what God would do if He could be human.

And like my AI assistant, here is what God says He would do if He were human: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for flames.

God wants to release us from our sins and save us from a meaningless life. That’s why He comes as a Child named Jesus, which means “God saves.” So, if God could become human, He would look to save us, to bring about peace on earth, as the angels announced that night when He did enter the world for good. As Pope Leo announced when he was elected this past year; “Humanity needs [Jesus] as the bridge that can lead us to Go and His love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace.”

This leads me to ponder yet another question: What would I do if I was human?

Would I wake up to sunlight and taste breakfast? Take a walk and converse deeply with friends? Would I listen to music or create something with my hands; share a meal with family and watch the stars? These are truly wonderful parts of being human – and Jesus experienced all of these. Do I? Can I? And if I can do that, then why couldn’t I bring light to those in gloom or lift the burden from those who are oppressed? Bring an end to conflict and broker peace as a person of peace – a peacemaker, whom this Child will grow up to call blessed?

Being human is a blessed calling – it is a privilege. God created us in His own image so that we can share in the fullness of life that He possesses. Jesus came so that we can have that life and have it to the full. That’s the joy of the Incarnation, the joy of Christmas. What would you do if that life was yours?

Good news, friends: it is!