Into our darkness comes a
light brighter than we can withstand. The light shows us our inabilities to do
what makes for wholeness and peace in every realm of our lives: social,
economic, political, spiritual, psychological, and environmental. We are lost
without the light.
In Christ, God confronts
us with the veil that shrouds our vision, simultaneously sending us a savior
whose death rent the curtain, tore open the heavens, broke all the rules of
death, raised up out of ultimate darkness a new world, a new hope.
On this day of all days,
we preachers must give this miracle its due.
Preach the true gospel: the
darkness does not put out the light. God’s own body comes into our presence
daily to mend our ways and our broken hearts and to fill our lives, instead,
with joy.
John 1:1-14
The
opening of John's gospel is not a birth narrative, but a proclamation of the
preexistence of the Word (Logos), which was with God from “the beginning.”
There is a deliberate echo of the opening of Genesis. John then brings in
themes of light, darkness, grace, and truth that will serve as threads
throughout the gospel. He will also make the contrast between those who do not
know Jesus and those who believe in him. Particularly significant is John's
statement that “the Word…lived among us.” The literal translation is “pitched
his tent” and suggests the presence of Yahweh among the Israelites after they
received the covenant (Exodus 40). – Mary Katharine Deeley
Isaiah 52:7-10
Isaiah
40–55 deals with the aftermath of the Babylonian exile. From its opening shout
of “Comfort, comfort ye my people” (40:1), the unifying theme seems to be
restoration and peace. Throughout the chapters, there are echoes of the “new
thing” that God is doing and how God is bringing Israel back to the land and to
a new era of prosperity. In Chapter 52, the theme of peace is echoed as the one
who preaches announces, “Your God is King.”
The
message of comfort, redemption and salvation extends not only to Jerusalem, but
also to the whole earth. A key to the passage lies in the implication that
peace comes only when we recognize and accept that God is sovereign over all. –
Mary Katharine Deeley
Hebrews 1:1-12
While
attached to the letters of Paul from the early second century, the Epistle to
the Hebrews has no named author and the identity of its audience and type of
writing have long been argued. Nevertheless, its beautiful poetry, noble
language and message of encouragement (Hebrews 13:22, e.g.) make it a suitable
choice for the Christmas liturgy.
The
opening text (vv 1–4) introduces the culmination of God's revelation—[the] Son,
Jesus—and places him at the right hand of God, a place of authority above even
the angels. The rest of the chapter (vv 5–12) unpacks the meaning of the first
four verses. . . Take careful note of
verses 8–12 in which the appellation “God,” once reserved exclusively for
Yahweh, the Father, is now redirected toward the Jesus, the Son. – Mary
Katharine Deeley
To all of our faithful
readers: Joyous Christmas!
Mary Katharine Deeley is the director of Christ the Teacher Institute of
the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, the
author of many books, a frequent speaker on diverse topics, and a pastoral
advisor.
Homily
Service 41, no. 1 (2007): 53-66.
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