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Homily for Christmas Day -
Day Mass - Jn. 1:1-5 & 9-14
by
Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen
" In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God.
" All things were made
through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In
him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
" The true light that
enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world,
and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came
to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who
received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become
children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
" And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father. "
Homily:
" In the beginning was the
Word... "
On this Christmas Day 2004,
I would like to comment on this gospel as Saint John did in his first
epistle. For, as you doubtlessly know, in addition to Saint John's
gospel, we have also preserved three letters by the Apostle, letters
that the Church has recognized as canonical, that is to say inspired by
the Spirit of God.
The first and longest
letter was written by Saint John as an introduction to, or explanation
of, his gospel, which is difficult to understand at times. Today, in
the gospel, Saint John speaks to us of the Word. It is not the word
"be", or the word "have", or even the word "sing", etc... It is the
Word of God, the Son of God.
In his first epistle, Saint
John explains to us that the Word is the Life of God, inasmuch as it is
the living Word of God: "That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon
and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life... we proclaim
to you." (1 Jn. 1:1-3)
" ... and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."
"The Word was God." The
Word is God. The Word is always God. But it is the Word of He who
speaks this Word, it is the Word conceived, begotten, by He who speaks
it, by He who conceives it in himself, by He who begets it. The Word is
begotten as a Son by the Father, who is God. The Word is with He who
begets it eternally, He who speaks it always: the Father. The Word was
with God, the Father. The Word is always with the Father!
" All things were made
through him, and without him was not anything made that was made... and
the world was made through him... "
The world was made through
him. "Ipse dixit et facta sunt." "He commanded and all was created."
(Ps. 148:5) At the Word of the Father, all was created. In everything
that exists in the universe, we find a trace of the Word of the Father.
There is no being on earth or elsewhere that cannot tell us something
of the Word of the Father. Everything, through the Word, leads us to
the Father!
" And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father. "
Not only did the Word of
God want to leave a trace of himself, of his image, in all of creation,
but he, the Word, the Son of God, also wanted to be the Word of God in
human form, capable of being heard and understood by those like him,
the men and women of the earth! The Word of God became flesh, in order
that we might be able to communicate with the Father, in the Spirit!
" But to all who received
him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the
will of man, but of God. "
By a free gift of God,
through faith and the grace of God, we can become children of God, sons
of the Father, sons begotten in the only Son! Each Eucharist offers us
this opportunity: may the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, who conceived the
Son of God according to the flesh, also be the Mother of us all, in
order that we might be begotten to eternal Life with the Father!
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