Word to the Wise
Monday, December 25, 2006 - Nativity of the Lord
[Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18]And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.
These words from the Prologue of the Gospel of John reflect the incredible truth that faces us when we look on the scene of the nativity in our homes. It is a humble scene, filled with all the emotion and nostalgia of a Christmas celebration. Grace is the word that means the presence of God's very life. It is the truth of that grace/presence that we come face to face with in the nativity scene! Traditionally we use the word, "Incarnation," to refer to this mystery. In doing this we must never lose sight of the real flesh taken on by God in the person of Jesus, born in Bethlehem, all those many years ago. We must never, by using another word like "neighbor," lsoe sight of the realness of the person next to us or around the world from us who shares the humanity which Christ took on. They are not just our "neighbor" but our brother and sister, our child and parent, our friend and stranger. It is for all of them that the Word become flesh. Today of all days, we can be grateful that God has so loved us that we have Jesus' birth to celebrate. We can see that birth in ourselves and in others - that grace and truth which gives us life. AMEN
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