12/25/2015 – The Nativity of the Lord – Christmas Day – mass during the day – John 1:1-18

      Last night, at our midnight mass, we heard the traditional Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, about the decree from Caesar Augustus, about Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem from Nazareth in order to enroll in the census, about Jesus being born in the manager, about the shepherds hearing about Christ’s birth from an angel.  That is the traditional Christmas story that enchanted us as children, that we still enjoying each year at Christmastime as adults.   That story tells us how God became flesh and how Jesus was born in Ancient Israel to bring salvation to us all.  Today we hear an account of Jesus’ birth in a very different way and in very different language.   Today’s Gospel does not mention Bethlehem, the city where Jesus was born. It does not mention Mary and Joseph and the trials and tribulations they endured.  It does not talk about the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks or the angels singing songs of praise to announce the birth of the Christ child in that lowly stable.   Today, we hear this very poetic and theological description from the beginning of John’s Gospel so we can gaze a little deeper at the significance that Jesus’ birth has for us.  This child born into the world at Christmas time is not only true God made flesh, but he is the Word of God that has existed with the Father from the beginning of time and throughout all eternity. 

      Last night, at midnight mass, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed that the people who walked in darkness had seen a great light.   The symbolism of Christ the light calls out to us from John’s Gospel this morning as well.   Christ is the light of the human race, the light that shines in the darkness of our world, the light that is not overcome by the darkness.

       We use the symbolism of light to explain what happens in the Sacrament of Baptism.  We receive the light of Christ in our lives when we are baptized.  During the Sacrament of Baptism, the godparents light a candle for the baptized child from the paschal candle that represents Christ.  The parents and godparents are to keep the light of Christ alive in the life of the child who was just baptized.

       While our world has been singing Christmas songs and has been having Christmas decorations up for months now, Christmas eve and Christmas day are the first days we light our Christmas trees in the church, they are the first days we sing Christmas carols. And while our secular world is trying to Christ out of our celebrations this time of the year, calling them holiday lights and holiday celebrations rather than referring to Christmas at all, we in the Catholic Church center our celebration on the light of Christ that comes into our world with his birth. Christ was born of the Virgin Mary in that humble town of Bethlehem.  But Christ needs to be born in our hearts each day.

       Here is a prayer that captures that essence, of bringing the light of Christ into our lives, of being the light of Christ to the world. Let us pray:

Lord, may I follow your light each day of my journey here on earth.

Let your light shine in my thought and in my deeds and in my words.

Let your light influence the way your mercy and charity flow within me. 

Let my heart always reflect you –

Your holy love,

Your peace, 

And your joy.

Let me life shine in true discipleship to Christ. 

Jesus the Christ, true light, true God, and true man,

Send me into the world as a light,

As a messenger to bring the Gospel to all. 

Let your light illuminate me with your truth

Both now and every day of my life. 

We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

AMEN.