The Birth of Jesus is so important to our salvation that the Church devotes five different sets of Scripture Readings, with five different sets of prayers for the Mass, within a thirty-six-hour period starting with the liturgy for December 24th. They all have different messages for us, centering on the Incarnation of God in the birth of Jesus Christ. It is prudent that I touch on at least one reading (usually the Gospel) from each these liturgies, before focusing the balance of this Reflection on the Prologue to the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist.
The first set of readings we hear are from the Mass on December 24th. In the first reading (2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14 and 16), we hear the promise that God will build a house from living souls, from David’s descendants, rather than having David building a house for God from dead stone. The house of David will be the source of the Messiah. In the Gospel (Luke 1:67-79), once Zechariah’s voice has been restored during the circumcision and the naming of his son, John (the Baptist), Zechariah praises God for raising an offspring of David to rule over God’s people in fulfillment of the promises of old. Zechariah also realizes the special role his own son will play in the fulfillment of messianic prophecies, since John will go before the Lord Jesus to prepare a straight path for him.
The Christmas Vigil Liturgy, or Mass on Christmas Eve, focuses on the joyful announcement of the Reign of God. The prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of Jerusalem about the restoration of the right relationship between God and the people (Isaiah 62:1-5). In the Second Reading (Acts 13:16-17; 22-25), St. Paul reminds the Jewish people of Pisidia that God has fulfilled the promises made to David by raising up the Savior, whose Advent was announced by John the Baptist. In the Gospel (Matthew 1:1-25) we hear the genealogy of Jesus starting with Abraham. We also hear about the angel of God appearing to Joseph in a dream telling him to take Mary into his care because the Child Whom Mary carries in her womb will be the Savior of the World and that He will be the Promised One Who is Emmanuel – God-with-us.
For the Mass at Midnight, our First Reading (Isaiah 9:1-6) speaks about a Son given to us Who brings light to those in darkness, joy to those in sorrow. This Child will be given the Reign of God and will be called by the titles Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. (This passage is the source of some of the words for Handel’s Messiah.) The Reign this Son will establish will be marked with justice and peace. St. Paul, in the Second Reading, reminds us that Jesus is the revelation of God’s grace to all people (Titus 2:11-14). The glory of God has come in and through the Savior of the world.
The Gospel for Mass at Midnight is the traditional infancy narrative from Luke (Luke 2:1-14). We hear the reason Mary and Joseph end up in Bethlehem – because of their obedience to the Roman census. The familiar image of the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a feeding trough in a stable, is presented to us, along with the announcement to the shepherds of the birth of the Messiah.
The readings for the Mass at dawn begin with a short reading from Isaiah telling the people to rejoice, for the Savior comes (Isaiah 62:11-12). St. Paul, again writing to Titus, reminds us that we have been saved because the kindness/love of God has allowed the Savior to be born (Titus 3:4-7). The Gospel for this liturgy continues the infancy account according to Luke (Luke 2:15-20). The shepherds go to see the baby in the manger, and they believe. Mary reflects on the events that have happened.
The scripture passages for the Mass during the Day are probably the collection of readings from the oldest liturgy for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. These readings begin with rejoicing at the announcement of the Good News of God’s Reign being established (Isaiah 52:7-10). The Letter to the Hebrews relates the fact that God has spoken more clearly than ever before, through God’s own Son, the God-man Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-6). The Son is the perfect reflection of the Abba-Father’s glory. The Gospel is the prologue to St. John’s Gospel (John 1:1-18) which will be discussed later in this Daily Reflection.
Historians have verified there was, in fact, a census called by the Roman government. The time the census would have been around 8 BC, when it was decreed, or perhaps a couple of years later when the census was actually implemented. Thus, Mary and Joseph would have been required to be in Bethlehem sometime around the year 6 BC. Many people do not realize that the monk who put together the Gregorian calendar made a mistake in his reckoning, with the error being about six-to-eight years.
Scholars also have debated the scriptural passage where the shepherds were keeping watch over the flocks by night. Most agree that it was unusual, but not unheard of, for the shepherds and sheep to be out at pasture during the winter. Because of the prominent account of the shepherds, some commentors, but not all, think that Jesus was born in fall or spring (rather than in winter) when shepherds often had the flocks in the field at night.
Yes, Roy, I know this reflection is long. It is Christmas, after all. Get another cup of coffee.
I would now like to turn our attention to the beautiful prologue to St. John’s Gospel. St. John is known for his “theologizing” about the life of Jesus—showing that Jesus and God were separate parts of the same whole. This introduction to his Gospel is a beautiful example of this:
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.
A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to testify to the light. 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.
John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.
Notice there is no mention of Bethlehem, of Mary, of shepherds, or the stable and the manger, so why do we read this Gospel for Christmas Day?
The Bethlehem story, of course, was told during last night’s Mass at midnight. But today we are, as it were, going behind the scenes, and looking at the deeper meaning of that story. After all, who is that little baby, so small, so helpless? And why do we make such a fuss about his birth?
He is the Word of God. From the beginning he was with God and WAS God. Think of those extraordinary words as you gaze at the stable or the crib.
Through the Word, God expresses his very self, just as in an analogous way we reveal ourselves through the way we speak and what we say. (And sometimes we reveal just as much by what we do NOT say!) But God’s Word does not just communicate; God’s Word is active – it is a verb rather than a noun. It makes, it produces, it creates.
Again, in an analogous way, we can speak of the “word” of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the “word” of Shakespeare in Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, or the “word” of Beethoven in the Ninth Symphony. All these do far more than express ideas, they have a powerful impact in changing us. So, through this Word “all things came to be”, to this Word we and our whole world owe our very existence.
Now our city and homes are filled with light, guiding us through the dark valleys of our lives. Two thousand years ago, that was not the case. It is no coincidence that Christmas is celebrated in the depth of winter, just after the winter solstice, as we look forward in hope to the longer days of light and the new life ready to burst forth. Jesus will say later that he is “the Light of the world”. Today’s Gospel says that the Light shines in the darkness and that the darkness cannot overpower it. It is in this hope that we long to see the darkness of our world put to flight.
Alas! “He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not recognize him.” “He came to his own place and his own people did not accept him”. For the “Word was made flesh and lived among us.” It does not say the Word became a human being but “flesh”. In John’s language, “flesh” refers to all that is weak and sinful in our human nature.
The Word came and was fully inserted into that world. ‘World’ has two meanings in John’s writings. It means the world in general, our planet and all that is in it. But it also refers to that part of our human world which is caught up in all that is evil, negative, degrading and dehumanizing. The Word entered both of these worlds. He did not live on the fringe but in the very center of human activity. This caused difficulties for some religious people who found it disturbing that Jesus “mixed with sinners and, even worse, ate with them”. All this is being said in the Bethlehem story but in more concrete, image-filled language.
As the letter to the Hebrews (Second Reading) tells us today, God in the past spoke to us through many prophets and other spokespersons. But now “he has spoken to us through his Son,” because the Son is the Word of God. This Son is the “radiant light of God’s glory” and “the perfect copy of his nature”.
In seeing all that Jesus says and does we are being put in touch with the very nature of God. Born in utter simplicity without many of the conveniences of life that we would take for granted and regard as essential, away from home, rejected by every place of shelter in the town, visited by shepherds. Later, during his adult ministry, he lived as a wandering homeless person. Think about that: a wandering homeless person. Perhaps he is doing that even today!
It is important that we understand that this scene is not just for pious contemplation; it contains a message. God has become a human person like us; he has come to live and work among us. He has entered our world to bless it and to liberate all those enslaved by oppression, enslaved by hunger, enslaved by homelessness, enslaved by addictive habits and substances, enslaved by fear, enslaved by anger, enslaved by resentment, enslaved by hatred, enslaved by loneliness …
Let us pray that we may approach this Child to be liberated from our own particular enslavement. We are all slaves to something! But, more than that, as brothers and sisters of Jesus, we are called to work together with him, to help others break the chains of their enslavements, so that, in the words of Isaiah today (First Reading), “all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God”.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!