Word to the Wise
Friday, December 31, 2021 - Dec. 31 - 7th Day in the Octave of Christmas
[1 John 2:18-21 and John 1:1-18]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 to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it........And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth.....From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him. [John]
Those who are familiar with operas and Broadway musicals know that they almost always begin with an orchestral "overture" that features the major musical themes or "leitmotifs" of the work. For "foodies," it would be like serving samples of the main meal as hors d'oeuvres. Thus, the overtures are written last, after the main themes or meal have been created.
The "infancy narratives" of the gospels according to Matthew and Luke contain elements of the future life of Jesus and all Christians. The "Prologue" to the Gospel According to John serves the same purpose but its vision is much broader and it could be separated from the rest of the gospel and still be a major revelation. Liturgically, the Prologue serves as the gospel scripture for Mass During the Day on Christmas Day. Now it "bookends" the Octave celebration, wrapping up the story of "truth and grace" and inviting us to step back from the individual scenes of the infancy narratives and consider the majestic scale of God's plan of salvation. The message is as simple as it is profound: Jesus is the one whom God has sent!
The completion of the Octave celebration is not the end of the liturgical celebration. We still have the Epiphany event to celebrate, but we can see it all through the lens of the Prologue to the Gospel According to John. The Christmas/Epiphany season will come to an end with the celebration of the baptism of the adult Jesus by John the Baptist. Then the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem will begin. The "Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us..." AMEN