DAILY GOSPEL: 25/12/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass during the Day - Solemnity
Book of Isaiah 52:7-10.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, Announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!"
Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, For they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion.
Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem.
The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.
Psalms 98:1.2-3.4.5-6.
Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous deeds, Whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.
The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph for the nations to see,
Has remembered faithful love toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.
Letter to the Hebrews 1:1-6.
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets;
in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say: "You are my son; this day I have begotten you"? Or again: "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me"?
And again, when he leads the first-born into the world, he says: "Let all the angels of God worship him."
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but 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 to be through him, but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God.
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.
John testified to him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'"
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 Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, Announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!"
Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, For they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion.
Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem.
The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.
Psalms 98:1.2-3.4.5-6.
Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous deeds, Whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.
The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph for the nations to see,
Has remembered faithful love toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.
Letter to the Hebrews 1:1-6.
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets;
in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say: "You are my son; this day I have begotten you"? Or again: "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me"?
And again, when he leads the first-born into the world, he says: "Let all the angels of God worship him."
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but 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 to be through him, but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God.
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.
John testified to him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'"
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 Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him.
Jn 1,1-18
Commentary of the day
Saint Basil (c.330-379), monk and Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church
Homily on the holy generation of Christ, 2.6 ; PG 31, 1459s (©Friends of Henry Ashworth)"He gave power to become children of God"God is on earth, God is among us, not now as lawgiver - there is no fire, trumpet blast, smoke-wreathed mountain, dense cloud, or storm to terrify whoever hears him - but as one gently and kindly conversing in a human body with his fellow men and women. God is in the flesh... How can the Godhead be in the flesh? In the same way as fire can be in iron: not by moving from place to place but by the one imparting to the other its own properties. Fire does not speed toward iron, but without itself undergoing any change it causes the iron to share in its own natural attributes. The fire is not diminished and yet it completely fills whatever shares in its nature. So is it also with God the Word. He did not relinquish his own nature and yet he dwelt among us. He did not undergo any change and yet the Word became flesh. Earth received him from heaven, yet heaven was not deserted by him who holds the universe in being.
Let us strive to comprehend the mystery... «When the grace of God our Savior appeared» (Tit 2,11) and «the Sun of Justice rose,» (Mal 3,20) «death was swallowed up in victory,» (1Cor 15,54) unable to bear the presence of true life. How great is God's goodness, how deep his love for us! Let us join the shepherds in giving glory to God, let us dance with the angels and sing: «Today a savior has been born to us. He is Christ the Lord» (Lk 2,11-12)
«The Lord is God and he has appeared to us,» (cf.Ps 118[117],7) not as God, which would have been terrifying for our weakness, but as a slave so as to free those who live in slavery. Who could be so lacking in sensibility and so ungrateful as not to join all here present in our gladness, exultation, and radiant joy? This feast belongs to the whole of creation. Let everyone contribute and be grateful. Let our voices too ring out in songs of jubilation.
Let us strive to comprehend the mystery... «When the grace of God our Savior appeared» (Tit 2,11) and «the Sun of Justice rose,» (Mal 3,20) «death was swallowed up in victory,» (1Cor 15,54) unable to bear the presence of true life. How great is God's goodness, how deep his love for us! Let us join the shepherds in giving glory to God, let us dance with the angels and sing: «Today a savior has been born to us. He is Christ the Lord» (Lk 2,11-12)
«The Lord is God and he has appeared to us,» (cf.Ps 118[117],7) not as God, which would have been terrifying for our weakness, but as a slave so as to free those who live in slavery. Who could be so lacking in sensibility and so ungrateful as not to join all here present in our gladness, exultation, and radiant joy? This feast belongs to the whole of creation. Let everyone contribute and be grateful. Let our voices too ring out in songs of jubilation.
Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ
BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:
The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
and the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!
(Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist)
To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God". Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this "marvellous exchange":
O marvellous exchange!
Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin.
We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share our humanity.
(LH, 1 January, Antiphon I of Evening Prayer)
The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
and the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!
(Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist)
To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God". Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this "marvellous exchange":
O marvellous exchange!
Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin.
We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share our humanity.
(LH, 1 January, Antiphon I of Evening Prayer)
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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