Christmas Day
Year A
Reading 1: Isaiah 52: 7-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98: 1-6
“All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God”
Reading 2: Hebrews 1: 1-6
Gospel: John 1: 1-18
John 1: 1 – “In the beginning”
“In the beginning” is the phrase that opens the Gospel of John. “In the beginning” was also the phrase that opens the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. This phrase is not like “Once upon a time” that opens many fairy stories. No, these words take us into the deepest of mysteries – the life of God, beyond The Big Bang of which scientists speak.
We are invited into the very life of the Trinity and of the life of the Word, with God from the very beginning, creating everything, “not one thing had life but through him.”
It was this very Word, creating God who came to us. “The Word was made flesh.” This Gospel passage was so important that for many years it was read at every Mass, as the Last Gospel. It emphasises the central truth of our Christian faith, that God came in human form, pitched his tent among us, and lived our human story.
Jesus came, knowing the Heart of God, the Heart of overflowing love and made this God known to us. We have received the fullness of grace through Jesus Christ. It is this mystery we celebrate at Christmas, God come to live with us, made flesh for our salvation, for our chance to know and love God.
Pray for those who have the courage of their faith.
With thanks to Holy Name of Mary Parish, Hunters Hill, who have supplied these daily Advent and Christmas 2019 reflections from their publication Daily Inspirations of Faith: A Season of Prayer – Advent to Epiphany 2019-20.
