The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today for the Mass of the Nativity celebrated during Christmas day connect us with the relationship with God that urged the exiles in Babylon to rejoice and in the fullness of time was revealed as the Word made flesh.
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah declares let Zion Rejoice.
* [52:7–10] God leads the people back from Babylon to Zion, from whose ruined walls sentinels greet the returning exiles. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 52 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 98 praises the Judge of the World.
* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9).
* [98:1] Marvelous deeds…victory: the conquest of all threats to the peaceful existence of Israel, depicted in the Psalms variously as a cosmic force such as sea, or nations bent on Israel’s destruction, or evildoers seemingly triumphant. His right hand and holy arm: God is pictured as a powerful warrior. (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews declares that God has spoken by His Son and the Son is superior to Angels.
* [1:1–4] The letter opens with an introduction consisting of a reflection on the climax of God’s revelation to the human race in his Son. The divine communication was initiated and maintained during Old Testament times in fragmentary and varied ways through the prophets (Heb 1:1), including Abraham, Moses, and all through whom God spoke. But now in these last days (Heb 1:2) the final age, God’s revelation of his saving purpose is achieved through a son, i.e., one who is Son, whose role is redeemer and mediator of creation. He was made heir of all things through his death and exaltation to glory, yet he existed before he appeared as man; through him God created the universe. Heb 1:3–4, which may be based upon a liturgical hymn, assimilate the Son to the personified Wisdom of the Old Testament as refulgence of God’s glory and imprint of his being (Heb 1:3; cf. Wis 7:26). These same terms are used of the Logos in Philo. The author now turns from the cosmological role of the preexistent Son to the redemptive work of Jesus: he brought about purification from sins and has been exalted to the right hand of God (see Ps 110:1). The once-humiliated and crucified Jesus has been declared God’s Son, and this name shows his superiority to the angels. The reason for the author’s insistence on that superiority is, among other things, that in some Jewish traditions angels were mediators of the old covenant (see Acts 7:53; Gal 3:19). Finally, Jesus’ superiority to the angels emphasizes the superiority of the new covenant to the old because of the heavenly priesthood of Jesus.
* [1:5–14] Jesus’ superiority to the angels is now demonstrated by a series of seven Old Testament texts. Some scholars see in the stages of Jesus’ exaltation an order corresponding to that of enthronement ceremonies in the ancient Near East, especially in Egypt, namely, elevation to divine status (Heb 1:5–6); presentation to the angels and proclamation of everlasting lordship (Hebrews, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the prologue to the Gospel, John proclaims the Word Became Flesh.
* [1:1–18] The prologue states the main themes of the gospel: life, light, truth, the world, testimony, and the preexistence of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Logos, who reveals God the Father. In origin, it was probably an early Christian hymn. Its closest parallel is in other christological hymns, Col 1:15–20 and Phil 2:6–11. Its core (Jn 1:1–5, 10–11, 14) is poetic in structure, with short phrases linked by “staircase parallelism,” in which the last word of one phrase becomes the first word of the next. Prose inserts (at least Jn 1:6–8, 15) deal with John the Baptist.
* [1:1] In the beginning: also the first words of the Old Testament (Gn 1:1). Was: this verb is used three times with different meanings in this verse: existence, relationship, and predication. The Word (Greek logos): this term combines God’s dynamic, creative word (Genesis), personified preexistent Wisdom as the instrument of God’s creative activity (Proverbs), and the ultimate intelligibility of reality (Hellenistic philosophy). With God: the Greek preposition here connotes communication with another. Was God: lack of a definite article with “God” in Greek signifies predication rather than identification.
* [1:3] What came to be: while the oldest manuscripts have no punctuation here, the corrector of Bodmer Papyrus P75, some manuscripts, and the Ante-Nicene Fathers take this phrase with what follows, as staircase parallelism. Connection with Jn 1:3 reflects fourth-century anti-Arianism.
* [1:5] The ethical dualism of light and darkness is paralleled in intertestamental literature and in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Overcome: “comprehend” is another possible translation, but cf. Jn 12:35; Wis 7:29–30.
* [1:6] John was sent just as Jesus was “sent” (Jn 4:34) in divine mission. Other references to John the Baptist in this gospel emphasize the differences between them and John’s subordinate role.
* [1:7] Testimony: the testimony theme of John is introduced, which portrays Jesus as if on trial throughout his ministry. All testify to Jesus: John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman, scripture, his works, the crowds, the Spirit, and his disciples.
* [1:11] What was his own…his own people: first a neuter, literally, “his own property/possession” (probably = Israel), then a masculine, “his own people” (the Israelites).
* [1:13] Believers in Jesus become children of God not through any of the three natural causes mentioned but through God who is the immediate cause of the new spiritual life. Were born: the Greek verb can mean “begotten” (by a male) or “born” (from a female or of parents). The variant “he who was begotten,” asserting Jesus’ virginal conception, is weakly attested in Old Latin and Syriac versions.
* [1:14] Flesh: the whole person, used probably against docetic tendencies (cf. 1 Jn 4:2; 2 Jn 7). Made his dwelling: literally, “pitched his tent/tabernacle.” Cf. the tabernacle or tent of meeting that was the place of God’s presence among his people (Ex 25:8–9). The incarnate Word is the new mode of God’s presence among his people. The Greek verb has the same consonants as the Aramaic word for God’s presence (Shekinah). Glory: God’s visible manifestation of majesty in power, which once filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:34) and the temple (1 Kgs 8:10–11, 27), is now centered in Jesus. Only Son: Greek, monogenēs, but see note on Jn 1:18. Grace and truth: these words may represent two Old Testament terms describing Yahweh in covenant relationship with Israel (cf. Ex 34:6), thus God’s “love” and “fidelity.” The Word shares Yahweh’s covenant qualities. (John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
Tamora Whitney loves midnight Mass. What a wonderful special thing, to welcome God right here in our little church and to all sing at the wonder of it all.
What a strange circumstance this is. A poor family with no place to stay, travelling for government documentation, has a baby in a barn. This should seem the least auspicious, but it is really the most. He is “a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast.” And this is where it all happens, every year, at midnight Mass, we know that Jesus is born, a poor baby, who comes to save us all. (Whitney, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great early church fathers (330-395 AD).
Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state? (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us MEDITATION on HEBREWS 1:1-6 was not available at publication time.
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the influence of Greek thought in the texts for today. The concept of Jesus pre existing before Bethlehen is connected to Logos and Wisdom Incarnate. Friar Jude offers several interpretations of grace upon grace in John’s Gospel. (commentary for Mass during the day is at the end of the podcast)
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, praises the courageous and prophetic faith of Mary and Joseph. Nothing anyone said at the synagogue would have prepared Mary or Joseph for this situation. They both had to rely on their angels! What proper bishop would trust such a situation? I wouldn’t myself. All we know of Joseph is that he was “a just man” (Matthew 1:19), probably also young and uneducated. The circumstance is a total afront to our criteria and way of evaluating authenticity.
These were two laypeople who totally trusted their inner experience of God and followed it to Bethlehem and beyond. There is no mention in the Gospels of the two checking out their inner experiences with the high priests, the synagogue, or even their Jewish Scriptures. Mary and Joseph walked in courage and absolute faith that their experience was true, with no one except God to reassure them they were right. Their only safety net was God’s love and mercy, a safety net they must have tried out many times, or else they never would have been able to fall into it so gracefully. (Rohr, 2023)
We ponder both the simplicity of Jesus' birth and the theology that we are presented in the Letters and Gospels.
References
Hebrews, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/1?1
Isaiah, CHAPTER 52 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/52
John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?
Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?1
Rohr, R. (2023, December 25). The Prophetic Holy Family — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-prophetic-holy-family/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=dec25
Whitney, T. (2023, December 25). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/122523.html
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