The Gospel Reading from the Nativity of the Lord--Mass During The Day:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.
John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said,
‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”
From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.
John 1:1-18
I think the two words I have used most in mentioning our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are Word and Light. I know I have made use of them in some of my writings. Needless to say, I have borrowed them from this passage. Now, for this year's reflection, I will focus my words on the Word. (As I mentioned last year, there is so much to glean from the Prologue of the fourth Gospel I should have plenty of material for a few more years.)
The opening verse in Latin, poetic in its own right, gives us the poetry of the English translation: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. It is no accident St. John tied this to the opening verse of Genesis: In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. As you recall the Creation story, especially as you hear it proclaimed at the Easter Vigil, you get the first hint of the Trinitarian nature of God--the Father speaking the Son on the breath of the Holy Spirit. Because infinity and omnipresence are part of the nature of God, they cannot be separated from any of the Divine Persons; therefore, the Word had to be "in the beginning".
As God continued to speak, creation came to be; thus, God is in all things. And because God is in all things, the Word is in all things. The First Reading from the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity beautifully describes what was happening:
The LORD possessed me, the beginning of his ways,
the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;
from of old I was poured forth,
at the first, before the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no fountains or springs of water;
before the mountains were settled into place,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
while as yet the earth and fields were not made,
nor the first clods of the world.
When the Lord established the heavens I was there,
when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;
when he made firm the skies above,
when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth;
when he set for the sea its limit,
so that the waters should not transgress his command;
then was I beside him as his craftsman,
and I was his delight day by day,
playing before him all the while,
playing on the surface of his earth;
and I found delight in the human race.
Proverbs 8:22-31
Note the final phrase of this passage and how well it sums up the end of the Creation story. With the creation of human beings, God found everything to be "very good". All humanity had to do was to cooperate with Him, to obey (hear) His Word.
Epic fail. Epic Fall. But, as St. Paul would write, "...where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,..." (Romans 5:20b) "And when through disobedience he had lost your friendship, you did not abandon him to the domain of death. For you came in mercy to the aid of all, so that those who seek might find you. Time and again you offered them covenants and through the prophets taught them to look forward to salvation." (Eucharistic Prayer IV) With each covenant and prophecy the Word, spoken "in the beginning" and echoing throughout time, began to increase in volume, straining to be heard again.
In the Annunciation, it was perfectly heard by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her "fiat" opened the path for the Word to become full-throated again. The salvation of the world promised after the Fall was on the way.
The Word was spoken loud and clear, just at it was "in the beginning". If one had ears to hear (and eyes to see), it was unmistakable--the presentation in the Temple; the visit of the Magi; the Q&A with the teachers at the Temple at age 12; the baptism by his heralding cousin; the public ministry full of signs and wonders, teachings and parables; the Transfiguration, the events leading to the Crucifixion (in a vain attempt to silence the Word once and for all), the "seven Last Words" of his dying breaths. And tying these events together are the most important phrases associated with the Word.
The first is "This is My Body...This is My Blood". This ultimate act of worship at each Sacrifice of the Mass--the re-presentation of the Last Supper, the creation of the new and everlasting covenant between God and man which re-created the earth, the perfected and perfect Passover feast, the core of our Faith--is why "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us". Doing this "in memory of Me" turns up the volume to eleven, to borrow a phrase from "This Is Spinal Tap".
The second is "He is risen". The limitless Word Himself had to become a grain of wheat to bear the infinite amount of fruit needed to reconcile us. The timeless Lamb of God was required as an offering so that His Blood "would be on us and on our children". His Resurrection, the proof that all things are possible with God, is our assurance that "with the help of God's grace" we may have "the life of the world to come".
But those above phrase are not possible without this final one. It is "the reason for the season". As we draw a close to this Jubilee Year of Hope, it is the start of our hope. Starting now, all we have to do is listen to the Word.
Hodie Christus natus est.
"As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be."
