2024 Christmas Eve Reflection

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.

Of all the verses in the Bible, these may be, in my very humble opinion, the most important. This is what is known as The Last Gospel, proclaimed after the dismissal in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. This is the culmination of all the readings proclaimed in the four Masses celebrated this day.

We acknowledge this with our very being, body and soul. We genuflect on this day (and also on the Solemnity of the Annunciation; this is a departure from the Extraordinary Form where it is done at any Mass when it is recited) when in the Nicene Creed we recite the corollary verse I have placed in boldface type and highlighted in red:  (A)nd by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. We also genuflect when we encounter these words in the Angelus.

The mystery of the Incarnation. God becoming human. The second Person of the Blessed Trinity taking on the form of a slave. The Creator visibly taking His place among His creation. This will be the focus of this year's reflection.

(As a side note, lest you think these are the only thoughts I gleaned, think again. I would wager a whole series of homilies and sermons have been preached on the Prologue of the fourth Gospel. There is so much to dissect and discern. Let's just say I have plenty of material for a few more Christmas Eve Reflections.)

"How could this be...?" Even if the Blessed Virgin Mary only asked this to the archangel Gabriel, she still spoke it in wonder. We humans may attempt to fathom the mind and will of God, but our efforts versus an infinite intelligence will only produce an infinitesimal answer at best. (Actually the best answer is to be still and know that He is God.) Compare this to when Zechariah asked a similar question regarding the conception of St. John the Baptist. He was made mute for nine months because of his doubt; the Theotokos will be called "blessed" forever.

"...(N)othing is impossible for God." Gabriel's reply shows how quickly we humans forget about God's omnipotence. We see it every day in creation since "the first day" when He created ex niliho. By an act of will, it came to be. We would do well to remember this when our wills "create" something. Unfortunately, because of Original Sin, we cannot say at times "it was good".

"Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more." How well we would do to also remember this. We can only overcome our faults and frailties "with the help of His grace". We cooperate with this grace when doing good. That is when we, made in the image and likeness of God, reflect Him more perfectly and become more like Him. As St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, we now only see Him dimly, as in a mirror.

We needed and need a Savior. The more broken we are from battling the world, the flesh, and the devil, the more we must acknowledge this is all too much for us. We cry, "Uncle!" We tap out. We crave and beg for mercy, as do all who recognize their sinfulness. The Divine Physician is the only one who can heal the wounds inflicted on us and at times are self-inflicted. The Son of God no less summons us to the universal call to holiness, to be perfected, to be one with Him as He is with the Father. 

“For the Son of God became man so that we might become God,” said St. Athanasius. Before the Fall, we were partakers in the divine nature of God. In order that we may share that distinction again, the consequences of the disobedience of Adam and Eve had to be reversed, so we could become the adopted children of God. But in order to do that, God had to become one like us in all things but sin. He truly had to veil Himself in human flesh, so that we may eventually see His glory. Of all the ways God could have redeemed us, He chose this way. He chose to be "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

God had to become "Emmanuel".

And that is what we celebrate today.

Hodie Christus natus est.

"And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."