The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to express joy as we recognize “the Light of the World” at Christmas time.
The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah celebrates God leading the people back from Babylon.
* [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 extolls God for Israel’s victory.
* [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). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Reading from Hebrews is a reflection on the climax of God’s revelation to the human race.
* [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. (Hebrews, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Reading from the Gospel of John is the prologue that 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.
* [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.
* [1:15] This verse, interrupting Jn 1:14, 16 seems drawn from Jn 1:30.
* [1:16] Grace in place of grace: replacement of the Old Covenant with the New (cf. Jn 1:17). Other possible translations are “grace upon grace” (accumulation) and “grace for grace” (correspondence).
* [1:18] The only Son, God: while the vast majority of later textual witnesses have another reading, “the Son, the only one” or “the only Son,” the translation above follows the best and earliest manuscripts, monogenēs theos, but takes the first term to mean not just “Only One” but to include a filial relationship with the Father, as at Lk 9:38 (“only child”) or Heb 11:17 (“only son”) and as translated at Jn 1:14. The Logos is thus “only Son” and God but not Father/God. (John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ, comments that the Christmas Season, in the days ahead, allows us the time and emotional space to accompany the Holy Family as the baby’s life is threatened by an unstable tyrant.
The Christmas Season in the days ahead allows us the time and emotional space to accompany the Holy Family as the baby’s life is threatened by an unstable tyrant. We can’t help entering into many reflections about our world today, as they become refugees. And, there are those silent years we imagine Jesus growing up in a very small town, in obscurity, until he’s around 30. And, we remember the story about how the next chapter shows us his deeper entry into our lives as he is baptized.
The Incarnation and Christmas story prepares us for the call to discipleship. The one who becomes one with us invites us to become one with him in ministry. His love for us shows us how to love one another. We remember the story. (Alexander, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great early church fathers (330-395 AD) who wrote:
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 is a Meditation on John 1:1-18.
Listen to Friar Jude Winkler’s reflection for December 25, 2025.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes why celebrating Christmas and the Incarnation of Jesus is foundational to Franciscan spirituality.
We pray that “Peace and All Good” will be our motive for contemplation and action as we celebrate the “Word Made Flesh” at Christmas.
References
Alexander, A. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-december-25-2025
Hebrews, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/1?1
Isaiah, CHAPTER 52 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/52?7
John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?1
Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?
Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt among Us. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?
No comments:
Post a Comment