The Nativity of the Lord - Mass During the Day

Jan 29 2025

God’s Christmas Card

The beautiful feet of Isaiah’s messengers announcing peace and bringing glad tidings can seem distant from our lives. Living in the digital age can diminish any excitement at receiving a message, since they pour in all the time. E-mail, cell phones, and digital intersections like Facebook and LinkedIn bring instantaneous connection, obliterating time and space barriers once crossed by such “antiquated” forms as snail mail, the telegram, and . . . does anyone remember the rotary phone?

But still, at the heart of all communication is the word, and that is the image today’s readings present to us in speaking of the mystery of the Incarnation, our God becoming human. Luke’s baby of Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, is first presented in John’s Gospel as the eternal Word of creation, as life, as light shining in the darkness, as the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth, and finally, as the Word become flesh who dwelled among us, true God and true man.

Give yourself time over these days to ponder (a good Christmas word) not only the babe in the crèche but also the profound mystery of the Word of God in whom and through whom all things were made, this Word who became human, revealing the image of the invisible God. The human warmth Luke presents in his Bethlehem story is matched by John’s image of Jesus as the only Son, standing (as the New English Bible translation has it) “nearest to the Father’s heart.”

Consider/Discuss

Do you think about Jesus as the Word of God, the Son “nearest to the Father’s heart”? What do these expressions say to you?
How does the opening prologue of John’s Gospel speak to your life?

Responding to the Word

Eternal Word of the Father, you became human so we might become divine. Let your message penetrate deeply into our minds and hearts, and move us to bring your light and life into a world often threatened by darkness and death. Love us today into a new birth. Amen.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

The proclamation of good news is dramatically portrayed in the scene of the messenger running swiftly over the mountains with the message of peace and salvation. There is excitement here, for the message holds a promise of peace, good news, and salvation. In a second scene, the arm of God is bared, revealing the source of the divine power that brought about the deliverance that the city now enjoys. Just as the messenger heralds peace and salvation to Zion, so the deliverance of the city heralds the mighty power of God to the ends of the earth.

The confessional hymn in the reading from Hebrews celebrates Christ as the agent of revelation, creation, and salvation. As the reflection of God’s glory and an exact representation of God’s being, Christ is the perfect revelation of God. The author reinterprets the wisdom tradition, where we find that it was through Wisdom that God created. Since Christ is indeed the Wisdom of God, it stands to reason that all things were created through him. The author of this letter has used ancient Israelite religious understanding to illustrate and develop his Christological faith. Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the Wisdom through whom all things came to be and remain in being.

John’s lofty presentation of Christ is comparable to that found in the reading from Hebrews. Both characterize Christ as pre-existent; both depict Christ as an agent in the creation of the world. In a free-flowing manner, the author ascribes life-giving power to the Word, the kind of life that gives light. While the Word is the true light that comes into the world, John is merely the witness who testifies to the authenticity and superiority of this light. The Word has entered human history and now dwells in the midst of humankind. Women and men have been greatly enriched by this divine presence, transformed by the love that first prompted God’s revelation and Christ’s incarnation.

Jan 24 2025

Jesus, the Light of the World

In the time of Isaiah, messengers carried their proclamations from one post to another on foot. The messenger in this passage brings “glad tidings,” which will be rendered a couple of centuries later in the Greek translation of Isaiah as euangelion. The “good news” is that the Exile has come to an end and the sovereign God who defeats all enemies intends to bring salvation and restore the people. The watchmen in Jerusalem see not only the messenger but also the salvation itself, very likely a reference to returning Israelites heading toward the city. Such is the power and goodness of Israel’s God that all nations will see and admire it.

The Letter to the Hebrews focuses on the unique accomplishment of Jesus Christ. Because he is not only God’s Son and heir, but especially “the very imprint of his being,” Jesus has revealed God more clearly and fully than had the earlier prophets. Whereas in the past God had provided for the broken human condition by legislating repeated purification from sin, now God has provided a fuller and final purification through a great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14–5:10; 7:1–8:6). Finally, as God’s Son and heir, Jesus reigns with God in heaven. As God’s equal, he is therefore also worthy of the worship of all creation.

The beginning of John’s Gospel emphasizes two themes. The first has to do with the person of Jesus as the “true light . . . coming into the world.” As he comes into the world, Jesus, as God’s Word, brings with him the very presence of God: life and light, grace and truth. In other words, as God coming to dwell among us, Jesus brings every good thing that God has to offer the human race, and to creation as a whole. The second theme is the rejection by the world of its very source and life. When the Word comes into the world, the world the Word created, it either cannot or will not recognize him, or at least some in the world have not recognized him. These two themes of presence and rejection will develop throughout the Gospel.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

Jan 13 2025

God’s Last Word

A recent movie called The Messenger tells the story of two soldiers on duty to inform next of kin about the death of a loved one in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It poignantly portrays not only the grief that this word brings to families and loved ones but also the sorrow of those who have to deliver it.

Today’s readings remind us that both those who deliver and those who receive the word of God about Jesus are entrusted with something that is lifegiving. Isaiah’s messenger carries word of a birth that brings joy, hope, and song, so much so that the very feet that deliver this message are declared blessed. It is not dif

ficult to see why this reading was chosen for Christmas.

God’s own Son is the message sent to us in the fullness of time. While God is portrayed as One who turned to words from the very beginning of creation—“Let there be light”—and while God continued to speak to Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, this speech was partial and fragmentary, often seeming more like a bad connection on the receiving end for all it was listened to.

But in Jesus the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, truly one of us and truly God. The magnificent concerto that is the Prologue of John rings out in three movements, proclaiming the Word present at Creation as the Word enfleshed in Jesus of Nazareth, and finally as the Word that continues to be born in us who by baptism have received a share in his fullness.

Consider/Discuss

What does calling Jesus the Word of God tell me about God? • How does accepting Jesus as God’s Word have an impact on my/our lives?

Responding to the Word

We pray that we might first hear the Word that is Jesus, then that we might understand this Word, and finally that we might live out of our understanding. We pray that this Word may so imprint itself on our minds and hearts and souls that when we speak, others hear the spirit of Jesus singing its love song to the world.