Homilies

CHRISTMAS: MASS DURING THE DAY (The Word Became Flesh)

MERRY CHRISTMAS, brothers and sisters in Christ!

THE GOSPEL PASSAGE that we have just heard is called the Prologue of John’s Gospel. With it, John has reflected deeper on God’s coming into this world. While St Luke narrates in last night’s gospel on the “how” of Jesus’ birth, that is, the down-to-earth story of the birth of Jesus, here, St John in the gospel today reflects about the person of Jesus, or “who” is actually this Jesus who was born in a manger. His is a rich theological reflection.

Let us examine once again the important themes that St John has presented in the prologue of his gospel.

Firstly, the prologue begins with this phrase: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The opening words are the same as the very first words in the Old Testament, “In the beginning…” But, whereas Genesis is really speaking of the beginning of our created universe, John goes back much further to the infinite beginnings of God himself. And in those beginnings, we find the Word already existing. The Word was in a close relationship with God and the Word was of the very same nature as God.

We may say that the prologue of John (or the gospel of John itself) as highly theological. But this is the truth that we must consider about God. Some people would think of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem as the first moment of the existence of Jesus. No, that is not the case. That is a common mistake! The birth of Jesus in a manger is a moment of the mystery of Incarnation. But it does not mean that before Jesus’ birth, He did not exist at all. St John clarifies or explains that Jesus existed eternally as Word. Jesus who is the Word who became man has existed in eternity. In the Incarnation, Jesus who is Word just became man.

Secondly, the prologue continues to say: “All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” The Word as distinct from the Father is also seen as the instrument through which God creates. What St John is trying to tell us here is that Jesus the Word is also a Creator. Our common understanding of God the Father is that He alone is the Creator of the Universe. But the Book of Psalms (33:6) speaks also about the creation of the world through God’s word. The psalmist says, “By the word of his mouth, the heavens were made”. St Augustine once taught that the Trinity is indivisible, and that in every action that God does, the three Persons are always involved. And thus, when God created the universe, the Son who is his Word has been also involved. Jesus as the Word is an instrument which God creates. Like the Father, He is also a creator.

Thirdly, St John also reflects that Jesus is not only the Word of the Father, and Creator of the universe, but He is also the Light. The prologue continues: “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.” Christ is Light and He shines in the darkness of our world. It is a light that cannot be overcome because it represents the ultimate values of Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Justice and Love, Compassion and Fellowship, Freedom and Peace.

We may understand the Light who is Christ in relation to the so-called “culture of death.” The phrase, “culture of death,” came into prominence when St John Paul II used it in the encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (1993). It describes the attraction that our culture has with sin and death. It is a culture that permits and promotes abortion, euthanasia, war, capital punishment, contraception etc. It is a dark world indeed. What the Church advances is the opposite: the culture of life. And the culture of life itself is the Light to our present world, the Light of Christ.

Fourthly, St John declares, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. The Word took on our human nature in all its fullness. Some people have doubted the incarnation of Jesus. But Jesus did not have just the external appearance of a human; He was indeed a man “like us in all things” and He lived right among us. A few months ago, I have come across a news item from an English online newspaper with the heading: “Historians are questioning if Jesus ever existed at all”. More and more sceptics try to advance their agenda. This is a case of a 'revisionist history'. But for us, believers, the gospel is a living witness to all these, and we believe in them.

Thus, St John gives us a beautiful reflection regarding the mystery of the Incarnation of God. Jesus is indeed Life and Light. Let us continue to cling to that Light. AMEN!

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