THE
WORD BECAME FLESH
December
25th - Christmas Day 2018
First Reading, Isaiah
52:7-10
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
Second Reading, Hebrews 1:1-6
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
Second Reading, Hebrews 1:1-6
Gospel, John
1:1-18
First
Reading, Isaiah 52:7-10
How beautiful on the
mountains, are the feet of the messenger announcing peace, of the messenger of good news,
who proclaims salvation and says to Zion, 'Your God is
king!'
The voices of your watchmen!
Now they raise their voices, shouting for joy together, for with their own eyes
they have seen Yahweh returning
to Zion.
Break into shouts together,
shouts of joy, you ruins of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has
consoled his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
Yahweh has bared his holy arm
for all the nations to see, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
Sing a new song to Yahweh, for
he has performed wonders, his saving power is in his right hand and his holy arm.
Yahweh has made known his
saving power, revealed his saving justice for
the nations to see, mindful of his faithful love and his constancy to the House
of Israel. The whole wide world has seen the saving power of our God.
Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth,
burst into shouts of joy!
Play to Yahweh on
the harp, to the sound of instruments; to the sound of trumpet and horn,
acclaim the presence of the King.
Second Reading, Hebrews 1:1-6
At many moments in the past
and by many means, God spoke
to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our time, the final days, he has
spoken to us in the person of
his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the
ages.
He is the reflection of God's glory and
bears the impress of God's own being, sustaining all things by his powerful
command; and now that he has purged sins away, he has taken his seat at the right hand of the divine Majesty on
high.
So he is now as far above the angels as
the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.
To which of the angels, then,
has God ever said: You are my Son, today I
have fathered you, or: I shall be a father to him and he a son to me?
Again, when he brings the
First-born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God pay
him homage.
Gospel, John
1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God and
the Word was God. He was with God in
the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into
being except through him. What has come into being in him was life, life that
was the light of men; and light shines in darkness, and darkness could not
overpower it.
A man came,
sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that everyone
might believe through him. He was not the light, he was to bear witness to the light.
The Word was the real light
that gives light to everyone; he was coming into the world. He was in the world
that had come into being through him, and the world did not recognise him.
He came to his own and 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 believed
in his name who were born not from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself.
The Word became flesh, he
lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that
he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and
truth.
John witnesses to him. He
proclaims: 'This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me has passed
ahead of me because he existed before me.'
Indeed, from his fullness we
have, all of us, received -- one gift replacing another, for the Law was
given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; it
is the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
Writer’s
Reflection - A
Special Advent Devotional from Bethlehem
Crowded streets. Crowds of
Christians arriving for the occasion. A surprising amount of Muslims. The
Islamic call to prayer and the Christian church bells ringing. Locals calling
eagerly as you walk past their stalls on the narrow windy streets. The smell of
falafels and shawarma. Camera crews setting up as you walk into the Church of
the Nativity. Crowds and a big long queue. Incense and candles. Some waiting...
and finally, the star that marks the spot where the Jesus was born.
What a privilege it is for me
to write to you from Bethlehem here on Christmas Day; it is truly a day of great
joy. Over 2000 years ago in the place I now stand, history changed its course
in the most dramatic and scandalous way you could conceive. God, whom man only
grasped at, revealed Himself by a supreme act of humility and took flesh to
become one of us. He came as Jesus Christ, who is "the reflection of God's glory and bears the stamp of God's own being".
Not only did God empty himself to the extreme to be born as a little new born
baby of a virgin, it was also through becoming man that he redeemed our fallen
humanity, in our place.
Over the last week I have
journeyed with Jesus on his earthly life like never before. I ran along the
streets of his home town of Nazareth, I manovered the market stalls of
Jerusalem and finally, I too, like the shepherds and Magi, visited the place
where in a manger once lay the very Word made flesh. It has been one of the
most beautiful experiences of my life and although I am here in Bethlehem now,
I have increasingly been aware of a deeper, more profound journey, one that is
the most spectacular of all, one that you too are walking; the journey of life.
That, most special night,
which is still one of the biggest, most looked forward to holidays in the
world: the word became flesh. Today’s
Gospel reading from John is possibly one of the most profound writings we have,
which reveal to us the mind of God and the truth of Jesus Christ.
“In
the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and
the Word was God. He was with God in
the beginning…The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone; he was
coming into the world. He was in the world that had come into being through
him, and the world did not recognise him”
How beautiful it is to realise
the depths of which God desired to communicate with humankind as we go through our life's journey. As we are
reminded in today’s second reading, God previously spoke to our ancestors through
the prophets, but His ultimate plan was to speak to us so intimately through Jesus;
who was there; waiting for us from the beginning of Creation in an incomprehensible
and divine way.
Yet how heart-breaking it is
to see that even then; this Saviour that longed to become flesh with us was not
recognised, accepted, or loved by His own children. And despite this, He kept
on loving – even till death on a cross – a knowledge that God knew and chose
out of love for us from the very start.
When we look around the world,
especially on this very Christmas Day, Jesus is still softly waiting in the
midst. Waiting for people to open their eyes to the truth, to open the eyes to
the meaning of Christmas, and to open their hearts to Him.
But despite the darkness of
this world – there is still hope – and the truth of Jesus will always shine
brighter. "In him was life, and that
life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it." One of my favourite quotes is from St
Francis of Assisi "All the darkness
in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle". Truly,
the light that Jesus brings by His presence cannot be overcome or put out, and
by His life He has given us life too. The darkness of not knowing how to live,
love and be free; the darkness of death and suffering, has been put to contrast
with the most perfect of lights. This moment we now celebrate is when that
light first shone among us.
So how can we shine? We are
told in today’s Gospel that Jesus gave of his fullness of light through "grace and truth". We must BELIEVE
and ACCEPT the TRUTH in our intellect that Jesus is God incarnate. Born of the
Virgin's womb to redeem humanity, we must RECEIVE the GRACE in our hearts that
Jesus wishes to give us. For God never ceases to give; it is our hearts that
are often unwilling or hesitant to accept His generosity. We are invited to receive Jesus in grace and truth - and if
accepted, our lives will shine with the fullness they were created for.
Life is indeed a journey, and our goal is to be united with God in heaven. This Christmas, let’s get closer to the infant Jesus, and start
preparing for eternal joy now by inviting Him into our hearts and seeing Him
in everyone around us. We were in darkness, but Light Himself has ignited us;
and we should burn as a fire of His love. This is the true meaning of
Christmas, and let this Christmas be one in which you bear witness to it.
Today, in Bethlehem, I am
praying for all you reading this reflection. May Our Lord bless you abundantly!
Have a Happy and Holy Christmas – God bless you!
Prayer
Reflection:
Sweetest Child Jesus, as you lay in your Mother’s arms, I
entrust myself to You who are my light and love.
Born so small and frail although you are God, I give
everything to you, so that I may be as dependant as you were in those first
moments.
Come into my heart sweet Child Jesus and make my heart one
with your own!
Help me accept everything you wish to give me, especially
give me grace and truth.
Mary, Mother of the Child Jesus, Pray for me!
St Joseph, Pray for me! Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for
me!
Writer's Bio: Luca McQuillan
Hey :) My name is Luca and I am half Scottish/Hungarian. I study Catholic theology and my aim is to work for the salvation of souls in whatever way God asks of me. I love adventures in any shape or form, travelling, people, art, rollerblading, climbing, swimming and even studying among many other things. Most recently I spent the past year in the St Andrew’s community in Aberdeen, Scotland.
My message to any readers would be, to live life to the full! By this you glorify God! “The glory of God is man fully alive” (CCC 294). God gave you this precious gift and there’s so much you can do if you abandon everything to Him. There is great truth in Jesus words “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Your life is full when it is lived for God, and this pleases him greatly – so don’t let anything hold you back!! :D
