12/31/2015 – the seventh day of the Octave of Christmas - John 1:1-18 –

        This Gospel passage may sound familiar, as it is the same Gospel reading that we heard on Christmas morning.  While Luke's very human account of Christ's birth narrative includes a visit by the angel Gabriel, a detailed account of the birth of  John the Baptist, the visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, the birth of Jesus in a manger, and the visit of the shepherds to the Christ child, John’s Gospel takes a much more theological and poetic approach to Christ’s birth, focusing on Christ's divinity.  Not only is the infant in the manger truly God made flesh, but he is the true Word of God that has existed with the Father from the beginning of time and throughout all eternity. 

         Perhaps the very reason that the Gospel of John begins with the divine identity of the infant born of the Virgin Mary in the manger in Bethlehem is that Christ's identity is so significant to our own identity as believers in the faith.  Christ’s identity is integral to our very being.  The Christ child was born human, but he is also divine.

         Christ was born into our world for our salvation.  Christ became human because only a divine person could reconcile us to the Father.  Our human efforts alone cannot do this.  This reality is essential to the joy we experience at Christmastime in celebrating the birth of Christ into our hearts and into our world. 

         As we celebrate this Christmas season, let us give gratitude to God for the freely-given love he offers us in sending us his Son as our Redeemer and Savior.  Let us ask God for the gift of his grace, that we may receive his Son more fully into our lives, that our faith may be able to express itself in our lives according to God's will. 

         I remember a prisoner once asking me about the first chapter of John's Gospel that we hear today, how he had difficulty understanding its poetic language and its very different account of Jesus entrance into our world.  May we not get distracted or put off by its beautiful words.  May we appreciate the message that it brings to us today.