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.
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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.
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* + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + *
This brings us to the end of our Advent meditation on the gospel reading for the mass of Christmas Day, the third of the Christmas liturgies. On Christmas morning the Book of Gospels will be opened and these words, taken from the prologue of John's gospel, will be proclaimed. Now having explored these texts, meditating and praying with them, seeking that new light will shine upon our minds, our hearts are ready hear this divine revelation. We now turn to the final verse of this gospel passage.
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.
The conclusion of these days of prayer may be summed up in a word, Emanuel, God is with us, in His Son, Jesus. Recall this exchange in John's gospel:
Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,* and that will be enough for us.”Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Jo. 14:8-11
What a gift we have in Jesus. For all eternity, God dwells in unapproachable light, where no one can see or approach. Yet now we can see our God and have personal relationship with him.
Perhaps this intimate closeness of our God is no more wondrously experienced than when we approach the altar at communion time and literally hold in our hands the very God who created us. The voices of the Advent and Christmas liturgies reveal to us this mystery with many beautiful expressions of prayer. In our next post we will focus our meditation on the Voices of the Christmas Liturgies.
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| Behold your God |
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