Daily Mass Gospel Reflection

Friends, today we reprise the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, which we read on Christmas. The Word became flesh "and we saw his glory." All the ways that the Old Testament spoke of God’s involvement with the world come together in this description of Jesus Christ. He is the powerful Word that will not return without accomplishing his purpose.

Now what is his purpose? Look to the prophet Isaiah. "The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth can see the salvation of our God." Saying that Yahweh has bared his holy arm means that Yahweh is rolling up his sleeves to get on with the work.

Take a look now at the manger at Bethlehem. Perhaps we see a tiny arm reaching out at random from the manger. "The Lord has made bare his holy arm." And this anticipates another baring of that holy arm, when it is stretched out on the wood of the cross, revealed to all nations, just as Isaiah said. God’s power would be revealed in the powerlessness of love unto death. This is what became flesh on Christmas day.

+++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
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-begotten Son, God, who is
at the Father’s side,
has revealed him.+++

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