Daily Scriptures Reflection for 12/25/12 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord

Scripture: Lectionary 16: Mass for Christmas Day. Isaiah 52:7-10. Psalm 98: 1.2-3.3-4.5-6. Hebrews 1:1-6. John 1:1-18:

God has spoken to us through his Son. These words from the prologue of Hebrews parallels what is said even more profoundly in the Prologue of John’s Gospel which would enable Christianity to exist on a divinely inspired text even if we never had the “rest of the story.”

Both Hebrew’s opening verses and the Prologue of John touch upon the mystery of God and Jesus from the perspective of eternity.

To appreciate the love of God we must think not only of the birth of Christ in time, but also in the eternal “kairos” of the Trinity where the love of the Holy Spirit and that of the Father and the Son is everlasting before time ever was. We need to ponder over the profound verses of John’s overture to the whole of his Gospel. We need to
contemplate the how and the why that love was extended to all of us who pass through the history of time. The Word became flesh and dwells among us. This is a mystery of God’s eternal love becoming one with our limits in love. John tells us “of his fullness we have all received love following upon love (John 1:18).

The Prologue of John is chosen for the daytime reading of Christmas in order to illuminate our minds and burn our hearts with the profundity of God’s love immersed in human love through the birth of Jesus of the Virgin Mary. “And the Word became flesh and dwells among us…”

This love of God as Trinity is the eternal way God lives and loves. It is “a love beyond all telling.”

The Prologue of John is centered on the Incarnation and joins the Word to us through the flesh of a human woman named Mary; she helps us to unite ourselves in time and eternity; humanity unites with divinity. We should avail ourselves of some moments to reflect on the Prologue this day remembering its most important verse, John 1:14. Amen.