In the secular world, there is no Christmas season after
Christmas day. In the secular world, it seems like the Christmas
season starts earlier each year, with Christmas carols playing and Christmas
decorations up before Halloween. Yet, in the Catholic Church, our
Christmas season ends on January 10 with the Baptism of our Lord. For
the daily masses during the Christmas season, we have daily Gospel readings in
which Jesus' identity as the son of God is revealed at his baptism; through the
miracles he performs, such as multiplying the loaves of bread & walking on
the water; and through his healing of the sick.
Today's first reading from the first letter of John tells us to
“love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by
God and knows God.” The Greek word for love, “agape,” goes beyond the
usual meaning we have for love in our modern culture. The true meaning
of agape love is an unconditional self-giving of the person. In this
sense, Jesus' identity is beyond the mere miracle worker who multiplies the
five loaves of bread and the two fish in our Gospel today. Jesus, in
epitomizing agape love, is God's own self, the ultimate manifestation of God's
self-giving.
God the Father’s self-giving of his son to us is almost too
wonderful and amazing for us to grasp, but it is most certainly not something
we want to ignore as we journey through life as followers of Jesus.
Having been given Jesus as a free gift from God, the only possible
response is to give of ourselves back to God. It may not seem much
in comparison, but it is all we have to give.
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