The Nativity of the Lord - Mass During the Day Archives - Page 3 of 3

The dark night has become day. The rescue has come. God has lifted our sorrows. Have you seen it? A man emerges from the doors of the hospital when his family thought that they’d never see him again. Have you felt it? A woman hugs her son, whom she thought was lost, but here he is! Do you know that jubilation, that moment when light rises out of darkness? A little girl, who thought that she was going to drown, finds herself safely on the shore. Have you ever been so low that rescue feels so good? The night has passed! This is the day!

Isaiah describes the Israelites returning home from Babylon: their eyes brim with tears, seeing through prisms of joy, wondering at a deliverance so profound and so unexpected. O God, thank you!

Has this wonderment been part of your life, too? Not just any joy, but the gut-level amazement at having been rescued? “Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem,” Isaiah sings. The deliverance has come. “Shout with joy!” today’s psalmist says.

I love to look at the stars at night, even in winter. It’s so dark, as only winter can be dark. The constellation Orion glitters in the south. The Big Dipper shines in the north. The air smelled crisp with cold. A sense of wonder crept into my heart and shivered in my spine. It was Christmas Eve. The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

This morning, the sun is up. Christmas is here. There is food to be cooked. There are people to see. The wonder of night has turned to the miracle of day. Baby Jesus has come. It is Christmas! “Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”

Consider/Discuss

Look at the joyous events of your life—the holy births, the sacred deaths, the healings, and the reconciliations. Since your experience of Christmas last year, how have you experienced light coming out of darkness? How has God lifted you? On this Christmas day, what does rescue mean to you and those whom you love? For what do you give thanks?
In the midst of this Christmas day, find a moment to cultivate a sense of wonder at the beauty of creation—look, just look! The people, the sun, the babies, the snow, the Christmas tree, and the clouds—how does God sing to you through the world around you, saying, “Look, I am here!” After one minute of savoring creation, pray this simple prayer: “Wow, God! Thanks!”

Living and Praying with the Word

Take time to wonder? Lord, that’s not very grown up. I gave that up when I became an adult. You have to get real. Do important things. I don’t have time for awe. I don’t have time to spend in wonderment. That’s just “fluffy” and I am not fluffy. What’s that you say? It is Christmas? Well, yes, it is. Be childlike, just this one day, and spend time in amazement? Allow you to fan the flame of wonder within me? For one minute? Well, okay, if you say so. Hey, um, yeah, by the way . . . Wow. Thanks!

The oracle of salvation in Isaiah stems from the late exilic period, which the prophet announces is coming to an end. This part of Isaiah makes clear that many in Babylon were doubtful either of God’s intentions toward Israel or God’s ability to achieve those intentions. Thus the prophet assures the people that God is indeed announcing the “glad tidings” (in Greek euangelion) that God is the sovereign King, and thus able to carry out the divine will. In fact, “sentinels” can already see that God is doing this by restoring Jerusalem and bringing the people back. As God’s holy city, and something of a representative of God’s people, the restoration of Jerusalem is in fact the restoration of God’s people.

The Letter to the Hebrews opens with a majestic announcement that, after centuries of partial and imperfect revelation, God has at last been perfectly revealed in the Son. Drawing on later, Greek-inflected theology of the book of Wisdom (7:23–27), the author describes Jesus Christ as the perfect reflection of the divine glory and power through whom all things were created, and which sustains them in being. This Son, although far above all natural and supernatural creatures, nevertheless took on human flesh and offered himself once and for all for the sins of humanity. Thus in the perfection of God’s revelation we see the extent of God’s gracious will for the salvation of all.

The Prologue to John’s Gospel focuses not just on the person of Jesus Christ, but also on the significance of his coming into the world. Jesus himself, as God, is the source of everything in creation; nothing exists apart from him and thus everything is “his own.” Yet not everyone will welcome the one who brings light and life. Already at the beginning of this Gospel we encounter the gracious will of God for the world (3:16), but also the darkness that the Light will encounter when he comes. John challenges the readers of his Gospel to decide whether or not they will accept the “grace and truth” offered or remain in the dark.