Homily
for Christmas Day Mass (December 25): Scripture: John 1:1-5, 9-14
"The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us"
As you know our Vietnamese are very much
influenced with Confucius and Buddhist. And I remember a story when I was a freshman
in college. There is a student asked a Christian professor how Confucius and Buddha
would differ from Christ. He responded with a story:
“A woman fell into a deep hole with mud,
she is trying as hard as she might to get out of the deep hole, but she could
not climb out
- Confucius looked in. He told
her, "Poor woman, if you had paid attention to me, you would not have
fallen in there in the first place." Then he walked away.
- Buddha approached. He too
spotted the woman. He said to himself, "If she can just manage to get out
of that hole, I can give her genuine help." Then He continued his journey.
- Along came Jesus. He spotted
the woman. He was moved with pity. He jumped into the hole immediately to
assist her out.
This story illustrates the Incarnation. We
gather here to celebrate the concern of God for each of us.
In today’s Gospel, We may wonder, why does John the Evangelist
begin his Gospel with a description of the Word of God and the creation of the
universe and humankind?
Well, we may
think John’s Gospel might be linked with the beginning of the first book of
Genesis (John 1:1-3 and Genesis 1:1-3)?
The “word of
God” was a common expression among the Jews. God’s word in the Old Testament is
an active, creative, and dynamic word. We can find it in the Psalm 33, 147
like. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Psalm 33:6). Or “He
sends forth his commands to the earth; his word runs swiftly” (Psalm 147:15).
In the book of Jeremiah
chapter 23 wrote “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer
which breaks the rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29)?
In the
Book of Wisdom chapter 9 also addressed God
as the one who “made all things by your word” (Wisdom 9:1). God’s
word is also equated with his wisdom like in the book of proverbs was written
“The Lord by wisdom founded the earth” (Proverbs 3:19).
The Book of
Wisdom describes “wisdom” as God’s eternal, creative, and illuminating power.
Both “word” and
“wisdom” are seen as one and the same. In chapter 18 Book
of Wisdom wrote:
“For while
gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half
gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into
the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior carrying the sharp sword
of your authentic command” (Wisdom 18:14-16).
John describes
Jesus as God’s creative, life-giving and light-giving word that has come to
earth in human form as he wrote in his Gospel. “God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus is the wisdom and power of God which
created the world and sustains it who assumed a human nature in order to
accomplish our salvation in it.
Jesus became
truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God who,
without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother.
The Word of God took human form and lived on earth. Many have seen His
glory, His glory as of a Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. Through Jesus,
we receive grace after grace. At first came the Law into the world through
Moses.
But now, grace and truth came into the world through Jesus Christ. While
no one has ever seen God, it is Jesus who is God and who is close to the
Father's heart, who has revealed God the Father to mankind.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, a Child was born for us.
As you look at Baby Jesus in the manger, always remember that the
fullness of God dwelled in Him.
In Jesus was the fullness of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. [Col. 1:9, 2:9] Those who know Jesus, they also know the Father
for they are One.
The mystery of Christmas tells us that through Jesus, God the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit came into the world as One in bodily form. As we have heard during Advent, the Holy
Spirit came upon the Blessed Virgin Mary at her moment of conception.
Jesus Himself told the people repeatedly that He was One with the Father,
that the Father was in Him, and that those who have seen Him, have seen the
Father. Through Jesus, the invisible
Heavenly Father took physical form. Through Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwelled
until Jesus commended His Spirit into the hands of the Father. [Lk. 23:46] Baby Jesus
came into the world for each and every one of us, so that we may be saved.
Christians never
cease proclaiming anew the wonder of the Incarnation. The Son of God assumed a
human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it.
The Son of God worked
with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and
with a human heart he loved. Born of the
Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except
sin (Gaudium et Spes).
Through Jesus, our living faith that is manifested through the Sacraments
of the Catholic Church leads us towards the Light of God and the truth as our
assurance of salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
If we are going
to behold the glory of God we will do it through Jesus Christ. Jesus became the partaker of our humanity so
we could be partakers of his divinity (2
Peter 1:4).
When Jesus comes
God is made known as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By our being
united in Jesus, God becomes our Father and we become his children.
Let’s give thanks
to the Father for sending His only begotten Son to redeem us and to share with
us His glory. And let us always be
thankful to Jesus for manifesting to us the goodness and love of God.
