GOD'S WORD IN DAILY LIFE
25 December/Saturday/ Christmas Mass during Day
Isa 52:7-10/ Psa 98:1-6/Heb 1:1-6/John 1:1-18 or 1:1-5,9-14
By Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD
First Reading Isaiah 52:7-10
Rejoice, for the Lord is consoling his people
How beautiful on the mountains,
are the feet of one who brings good news,
who heralds peace, brings happiness,
proclaims salvation,
and tells Zion,
‘Your God is king!’
Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices,
they shout for joy together,
for they see the Lord face to face,
as he returns to Zion.
Break into shouts of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord is consoling his people,
redeeming Jerusalem.
The Lord bares his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 97(98):1-6
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
Second Reading Hebrews 1:1-6
God has spoken to us through his Son
At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.
God has never said to any angel: You are my Son, today I have become your father; or: I will be a father to him and he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-Born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
A hallowed day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, worship the Lord,
for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.
Alleluia!
Gospel John 1:1-18
The Word was made flesh, and lived among us
In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him
and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.
The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through him,
and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain
and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to all who believe in the name of him
who was born not out of human stock
or urge of the flesh
or will of man
but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
‘This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me ranks before me
because he existed before me.’
Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received –
yes, grace in return for grace,
since, though the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
Reflection
Although the prologue of the Gospel of John which is the Gospel Reading of the day is not specific about the birth of Jesus Christ, it offers a comprehensive view of the person and mission of the one whose nativity has changed world history. In the prologue, John is intent on presenting Jesus as the Word of God made flesh. The Word that has been made flesh has its origins in God. This origin is not to be considered in the sense of generation because we emphasize in the creed that he was begotten but not made. He is one with the Father and was with the Father from all time.
The incarnation of the Word which was announced to Mary by the angel Gabriel has become a reality in the birth that we celebrate at Christmas. His incarnation initiated a new form of relationship between God and humanity. This is made manifest in the Second Reading where the author of the Letter to the Hebrews affirms that “in our own time, the last days, God has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is”. The birth of Jesus has offered us the opportunity to hear God in his Son. His birth was heralded by the angels who praised God saying Holy, Holy, Holy. A new era has dawned on humanity as we can now see God face to face and live.
The birth of Christ has been proclaimed to us as Good News. Jesus is himself the Good News that he proclaims. He is the Word of God in person and his word is truth indeed. Every word that is proclaimed about him becomes Good News. Thus the prophecy of Isaiah in the First Reading is fulfilled in our own eyes. With the prophet we can say “How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God is king!’ This is the message that all of us are invited to make known to the world on this day and during the season of Christmas.
The message of Christmas is not so much about a child in a manger but God’s visitation and its implications or consequences for humanity. God’s visitation has reconciled sinful humanity with the all merciful Father. The incarnation of Christ has offered humanity the opportunity to become adopted sons and daughters, thus restoring us to our lost glory; a glory we lost through the sin of Adam. As Paul expresses it in his Letter to the Romans, we too are to make known the Good News that through the fault of one man sin entered the world, but by one man, Jesus Christ we have redemption. Let us rejoice in this great divine favour and make known the joyful message. It is in this way that Christmas would be meaningful to us all.