Gospel – John 1:1-5,9-14
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 into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
The Gospel of the Lord
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Holy Cross – Private Intention
Reflection:
In today’s Gospel Saint John speaks about, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
Once there was a Rabbi who asked his disciples the following question: “How do you know when the darkness has been overcome, when the dawn has arrived?”
One of the disciples answered, “When you can look into the distance and tell the difference between a cow and a deer, then you know dawn has arrived.” “Close,” the Rabbi responded, “but not quite.”
Another disciple ventured a response, “When you can look into the distance and distinguish a peach blossom from an apple blossom, then you know that the darkness has been overcome.” “Not bad,” the Rabbi said, “not bad!
But the correct answer is slightly different. When you can look on the face of any man or any woman and know immediately that this is God’s child and your brother or sister, then you know that the darkness has been overcome, that the Daystar has appeared.”
This Christmas morning when we celebrate the victory of Light over darkness, the Gospel of John introduces Jesus as the true Light Who came from Heaven into our world of darkness to give us clear vision.
I would like us to take a look at you and I? What about you and I what about the “power to become children of God”? What about the Word becoming flesh in us? John is saying that the Word of God dwells deep within us and among us as one of us, that the Word of God is cosmic, and we can’t escape it. The word is everywhere. Every time we encounter the Word of God we are encountering the very breath of God, the power of God’s holy spirit.
Try this. Hold your breath and say, “Happy Christmas.” What happened?
You can’t do it, can you? If you are going to speak a word you have to breath. When God spoke the Word into flesh God breathed God’s spirit into our lives and into this world. That means every time we know beauty, experience generosity, offer mercy, act with wisdom, live with hope, feel ourselves reborn and recreated, the Word, in that moment, is once again becoming flesh. The Word has become flesh in your life and my life.
- When you can look on the face of any man or any woman and know immediately that this is God’s child and your brother or sister, then you know that the darkness has been overcome, that the Daystar has appeared!
