Gospel: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) Mass During the Day

Today is Christmas Day, the 25th of December, and the Gospel reading for the Eucharistic celebration during the day will be lifted from the account of St John (tap here for the complete Mass readings from USCCB).

There are four Masses that are celebrated for the Feast of Christmas and each is given its own set of readings to help us contemplate Christ's birth. The Gospel for the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve is taken from the beginning of the Gospel of St Matthew. The Mass at midnight proclaims the birth of Jesus through the Gospel of St Luke. The Mass at dawn on Christmas morning continues the story of the birth  of Jesus as found in St Luke's Gospel, ending with the shepherd's visit to the infant Jesus. In each of these Gospel readings, we hear portions of the infancy narratives with which we are familiar with.

The Gospel reading for the Christmas Mass during the day is taken from the beginning of St John the Evangelist's Gospel, but this part of the account is not an infancy narrative like those found in St Luke's and St Matthew's version. Instead, St John's narrative starts at the very beginning and presents the Creation story as the framework for announcing the Incarnation. St John's opening words echo the first verse in the Book of Genesis. This framwork invites us to view Jesus' birth from God's perspective. Each of the Gospels makes clear that Jesus' birth was the result of God's initiative. St John's Gospel, however, emphasizes that Jesus' birth was the divine intention from the moment of Creation.

As we observe in today's reading, the Gospel of St John includes highly philosophical and theological language. One example that particularly stands out in this Gospel is St John's repeated references to "the Word" in the opening verse. This expression (logos in the Greek) borrows from a concept found in both Jewish and Greek thought. Jews used this phrase to describe God's action in the Creation story, for example, and in the Wisdom literature. In Greek thought, the logos was understood as an internediary between God and humanity. St John and others in the early Church adopted this language to desctibe God's incarnation in Jesus. As the term was used to express the Trinitarian faith of Christians, the Word came to be equated with the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

In this prologue to the Gospel of St John, we also hear the main themes that will be developed later in his Gospel. These are often presented as dualities: light and darkness, truth and falsehood, life and death, and belief and unbelief. We also hear in this prologue a unique aspect of St John's Gospel, which is the theme of testimony. St John the Baptist was sent by God to testify to Jesus, the light of the world. Others in this Gospel will also offer more testimony about Jesus. The reader is invited to accept this testimony, which bear witnesses to Jesus, the Son of God. But even more directly, Jesus' actions and words will further testify to the Lord's identity as God's Incarnate Word.

Thinking about Jesus' birth in these theological and cosmological terms is particularly appropriate as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christmas in the darkness of winter (in the Philippines, where the climate is tropical, this analogy is observed after the winter solstice, where the night is longer than the day). At this time, nature itself seems to remind us of the darkness of sin. Into this darkness, in the midst of our sinfulness, God comes to dwell in us. St John's Gospel reminds us that through the Incarnation, God saves us from the darkness of sin and makes us his rightful children.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

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