[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore, in four bonus episodes, all of the Gospels that will be proclaimed at the Catholic Masses of Christmas on December 24th and 25th.
[00:00:24] In each of these four special episodes, we will take an in depth look at one of the Gospels featured at the Masses of Christmas: The Vigil Mass, Midnight Mass, Mass at Dawn, and Mass During the Day. Each episode will begin with the same prayer and the same introductory information. Then we'll dive into the particular Gospel assigned to one of those four Masses.
This particular episode, Episode 82 is Part IV of Happy Birthday Jesus, in which we hear from the Prologue of the Gospel of John.
As we journey through these Christmas Gospels, consider the following:
The Gospels we hear at Christmas teach us many important lessons about the person of Jesus - everything from who he is, what his heritage is, and how his birth came about… to his identity as the divine Word of God, the Logos. But we still need to ask ourselves who Jesus is to each one of us? And are we willing to invite him into our hearts, our homes and our lives?
[00:01:40] Let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of your Son. Help us to truly appreciate the wonder of his Incarnation and to treasure his time here on Earth. Teach us how to grow closer to him each day so that we welcome him with joy into our hearts and acknowledge him as Lord of our lives. We ask this through your beloved Son, Jesus, born to us in the quiet of this Bethlehem night. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:24] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's take a few moments to understand a bit more about how the Gospels begin, in general, before we listen to what God's message is for us in this Gospel for the Mass During the Day.
The first thing I want to mention is that every Gospel begins with a Preface or Prologue of some sort - some are quite short while others are quite lengthy. The prologue of John's Gospel is the longest… we'll hear that in this Mass During the Day on Christmas.
[00:02:59] The next point I want to make is that not all Gospels include Infancy Narratives, those stories relating to Jesus’ birth and childhood, only Matthew and Luke have them. The last thing I want to point out is that Matthew and Luke are the only Gospels that include the genealogy of Jesus and what each Evangelist does with the genealogy is quite unique. Luke traces the line of Jesus backward through time, beginning with Jesus and ending with Adam. Matthew, on the other hand, traces the line of Jesus forward through time, beginning with Abraham and ending with Jesus.
[00:03:46] Beyond those specific details, we should understand that there are stories unique to each Evangelist, told from the perspective of a number of different individuals, and that every story offers a treasured glimpse into the life of Jesus and his family before he reaches adulthood and begins his public ministry.
[00:04:10] With all that in mind, let's dive into the Gospel for the Mass During the Day, which can be celebrated anytime, any after the conclusion of the Mass at Dawn.
[00:04:22] This passage is the Prologue of the Gospel according to Saint John1: 1-18.
[00:04:32] “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. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 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 house, 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-begotten Son from the Father. (John bore witness to him, and cried, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.”’) And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.”
[00:06:56] As I said, this is the Prologue of John's Gospel, the longest of all of the Prologues, and there is great power and beauty in these words! This is a comprehensive summary of God's interaction with the world he created and set in motion. John's Gospel has no Infancy Narrative, so John uses his Prologue to establish Jesus’ identity and his divinity.
[00:07:28] John tells us that Jesus, the divine Word, was with God through all of eternity! He was at work in creation, he was at work in the history of the Jewish people, and - in accordance with God's plan - he took on human flesh and became Incarnate.
[00:07:54] So, let's explore this beautiful passage in a little more depth…
[00:07:59] “In the beginning”
Those are the very same three words that open the entire Bible! John makes a deliberate choice here to use those same words that begin the book of Genesis. In Genesis, we hear the story of creation… John invites us to realize that Jesus will bring about a new creation!
[00:08:28] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
We have to differentiate lowercase “w” word - meaning all of sacred Scripture - with capital “W” Word, THE Word (in Greek: Logos) - meaning Jesus.
[00:08:53] When we hear that as one sentence, we are given a small glimpse of the unimaginable fire of love that exists between God and his divine Word - God the Father and his beloved, only-begotten Son. Jesus, the divine Word, the Logos, perfectly reflects all that the Father is.
[00:09:25] He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
[00:09:36] Jesus is the agent by which God created everything in the cosmos! Think about that… everything!
From all the stars in the night sky to those pesky mosquitoes that bedevil us on summer evenings, from the sun that sheds light and warmth on our planet to blind cave fish that never see the light. Everything!
[00:10:05] “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
[00:10:11] All of mankind is brought to life by Jesus, the Light of the World, and through him we have a soul capable of knowing and loving God.
[00:10:26] “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
[00:10:33] Darkness, here, is used as a metaphor for sin - meaning separation or alienation from God. When John says, the darkness has not overcome the light - what he really means is that the darkness, our spiritual darkness, our purposeful turning away from the goodness of God, will never be able to fully comprehend the light of Christ, let alone possess the strength to overcome it… God, however, can overcome our spiritual darkness.
[00:11:11] “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”
[00:11:16] John the Evangelist is here referring to John the Baptist, the last and greatest of all the prophets. John the Evangelist never refers to himself by name in his Gospel. He always refers to himself as the Beloved Disciple. So, whenever we hear the name John in John's Gospel, rest assured that he means the Baptist!
[00:11:48] “He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.”
[00:11:56] When we think of testimony, we tend to think of it more as something that is offered in a court of law - but that is not what John means. He clarifies his meaning with his next phrase: to bear witness to the light. The Greek word for witness is martyrian - from which we derive the English word: martyr. And, John will be martyred. He will be killed by Herod after bearing witness to the light of Jesus and after confronting Herod about his own personal sin. Remember, the Baptist is always the precursor - he preached a baptism of repentance in order to prepare people for Jesus… that was John's mission, the purpose for which he was born into the world.
[00:13:01] “He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.”
[00:13:07] The Evangelist repeats himself here to make a point - remember when John was preaching by the Jordan River, many in the crowds questioned whether he might be the Messiah, but John quickly disabused them of that notion saying that there is one coming that is greater, mightier, than he. John knew that his role was to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah
“The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.”
[00:13:47] Every human being is created with an innate ability to think, to reason, to see and know the truth. Saint Thomas Aquinas (13th century Italian priest and monk, philosopher, theologian, Doctor of the Church, and one of the greatest minds of the medieval period - if not of all time), said the light of natural reason, with which we are born, is a participation in the divine light of Christ… an imprint of the divine light on us. The light of natural reason is a faint reflection of the true light of Christ.
[00:14:43] “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.”
[00:14:52] How often do we see people turn away from the truth because it's inconvenient, or difficult, or messy? Or perhaps because it disagrees with what society has to say?
[00:15:13] Jesus, the embodiment of authenticity, truth, and light, came into the world, but his message was inconvenient, difficult, and messy. And it often contradicted what Jewish society said at the time. So, people turned away from it - and from him - rather than make the necessary changes to their minds and hearts. And really, if we think about it, not much has changed.
[00:15:51] Jesus’ message is still inconvenient, difficult, and messy… and we still struggle to live it! Perhaps more now than we ever have - because there are more pressures on us by society, by social media, by the Internet, and by religious leaders and political parties that do not accept or even try to live the Gospel!
“He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.”
[00:16:32] So many times, the Gospels tell us that Jesus and the message he preached were rejected… by the religious authorities of the time, by those with wealth and power, by his own followers - when his message became particularly challenging, even by the people in his own hometown of Nazareth!
[00:16:56] “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.”
[00:17:15] John is referring here to all those who heard Jesus’ message and followed him… not just during his earthly life, but throughout all the ages. And to those believers, John says, Jesus gave the power to become children of God - that spiritual adoption that makes all who believe beloved sons and daughters of God the Father. He means us, too!
[00:17:49] We, who believe, are made beloved children of God! Not through human design or human parentage, but by the direct action of God himself who bestows his Holy Spirit upon us when we are Baptized!
[00:18:06] “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth;”
We need to allow those beautiful words to sink into our hearts for just a moment - the Word, the divine Logos, took on human flesh, became man in the Incarnation - and dwelt among us!
[00:18:39] God, the Creator of all things, has now become part of his creation.
[00:18:48] The words “dwelt among us” could also be translated as remained with us… pitched his tent among us… set up his tabernacle among us.
[00:19:03] These words should bring to mind the image of God's glory dwelling with his people in the desert during the Exodus - in the tent of meeting, the presence of God in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the very real presence of God in every sacred Tabernacle in every Catholic Church!
[00:19:33] Jesus is with us now and forever. Jesus, the Light of the World, who is full of grace and truth, is always with us!
[00:19:50] “we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father.”
[00:19:57] When the Evangelist says WE have beheld his glory - he means the Apostles! They were the privileged witnesses of the events of Jesus’ life… they were the ones who recorded them for future generations. He's saying - this is real! It really happened! Jesus was real… the only-begotten Son of God, the Father… the One who was filled with glory… he was real! We saw him with our own eyes… we lived with him… we traveled with him… we shared meals with him… for three years!
[00:20:41] “(John bore witness to him, and cried, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.’”)
[00:20:54] The Evangelist is assuring us here that the Baptist knew and acknowledged his place in salvation history. When John the Baptist says: “he who comes after me” - he means chronologically… and when he says “ranks before me” - he is referring to Jesus' divinity, his identity as the Son of God… and lastly, when he says “was before me” - he is referring back to “In the beginning” - as in Genesis and the beginning of creation.
[00:21:39] “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
[00:21:46] In other words, we receive grace from the fullness of the intimate and eternal relationship between the divine Father and Son… grace that Jesus bestows freely and lovingly upon us.
[00:22:09] “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
[00:22:19] The Evangelist is talking here about the two great revelations that God gave to mankind… the Law, the Mosaic Law detailed in the Torah and brought to the fullness of understanding through the prophets and the history of the Jewish people. in other words the Old Testament, and the fullness of God's revelation and how those Old Testament promises were brought to fulfillment by God's Son, Jesus Christ.
[00:22:58] “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.”
[00:23:09] We should hear - in those words of John - an echo of Matthew 11: “no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus chose to reveal the Father to his Apostles and they have, in turn, gifted that knowledge to us - to those who believe. That means that - in Jesus we can see, hear, and touch God directly – or, as Pope Saint John Paul II said: “in Jesus, we see the human face of God.”
[00:23:55] As the new and unparalleled place of God's dwelling here on earth, Jesus - the Logos, the Incarnate Word - is the fullness of God's revelation to mankind. Jesus is the Son, and we - who believe in him - have been given the means to share in Jesus' own divine life of grace and Sonship. We receive a sharing in his divine life of grace through our participation in the Sacramental life of the Church… and we share in his Sonship through spiritual adoption, through our Baptism, through our identity as members of his Church - his Mystical Body, and through the salvation won for us through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
[00:24:58] That brings us to the end of our Christmas Gospel for the Mass During the Day, but not the end of the Christmas season. That will not end until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. We learn a great deal about Jesus from the Christmas Gospels… who he is, what his human lineage is, how his birth came about, his relationship with God the Father, his identity as Son, King, Messiah, and divine Logos.
[00:25:32] What we cannot learn from the words of Scripture is what Jesus means to us. That is something that each and every person must determine for themselves. So, I will end with one final question… are we willing to open ourselves to God's gift of grace by inviting Jesus into our hearts, our homes, and our lives… not just at Christmas, but always?
[00:26:09] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you - safe and secure - in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening. Have a very Merry Christmas and may God bless you and your families richly.
