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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 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 or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 

John 1:1-18

Jesus the Christ, the Light of the world, the true Light of the world that pushes back the powers of darkness, lives and reigns! Christmas is a once-a-year revival of the fires of love and belief that burn in our hearts that there is more than what we see.

There is more than what is on the surface.

There is more than what tears at the fabric of human decency and moral integrity.

There is God.

And God is here.

There is more to Christmas than the cultural debate about what to call these sacred days which are celebrated by many in sacred but, by many more, in secular ritual.

There is more to Christmas than the holiday sparkle and warmth and nostalgia of the music and worship and memories that form our Christian identity.

There is more to Christmas than celebrating the “birthday” of Jesus Christ.

To discover the “more,” we need to dive deep, to sink below the surface of controversy and outrage, and open up to the mystery of God-with-us-here-and-now.

The essence of Christ’s coming to earth was to remain on this earth, to be here-and-now with each person, until the end of the world. Christ Jesus is here in his Body and Bride the Church. He is here in his eucharistic presence—the very present representation of the Incarnation—in churches and chapels great and small that stand in most cities in every country, flooding the world with the grace flowing from the Holy Mass offered almost continuously across the globe.

Christ Jesus is here in you and me, who remain before the world as its conscience, reminding people here-and-now that there is a God who loves them and calls them to holiness and to live in justice and to show mercy.

Jesus is “the true light, which enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.”

We should not be surprised then, if we are not recognized by the world as one of their own. Outrageous responses when culture and media blatantly counter our way of life with displays of morality that counter the Beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus, miss the mark. For we also are Christ here-and-now. We are also called to be the light that pushes back the powers of darkness and the presence of despair. We are given the role of offering our lives as Jesus on the cross. We are lifted up as a lantern to point the way, to proclaim the truth, to provide sustenance from our Eucharistic living for others who long to know their life can find meaning.  

Praying with this Passage of Scripture

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