The Nativity of Our Lord,   Christmas Day 2011

John 1:1-18

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this passage from the Gospel

1. Do we continue to think of God as a distant spirit, despite his incarnation that we celebrate at Christmas?

2. What exactly is the glory of God? How do we behold it?

3. Is the glory of God manifested to us in a triumphalist way, or in the mind-blowing humility that God shows towards us?

4. If the God who made the cosmos makes himself nothing in order to be with you and me, then what does that make us?

5. How can an appreciation of how much God was willing to empty himself for me help me to understand who I truly am?

6. If God was willing to become a human being, then how important is it for you and me to be human beings?

St John's Gospel begins with abstract-sounding concepts, but comes to a climax with the incarnation of God!

At the Mass for Christmas Day, we read the lyrical Prologue from St John's Gospel. These verses act as a key for the entire Gospel and proclaim the momentous event of the sending of the Word from the Father.  We are told that everything was made through the Word, and everything receives its substance from Him. We are told that He is life, and that this life is the light of all people.

            Here we have various concepts beautifully interwoven: life, the created world, light shining in darkness. Light gives life, and life is received through a light that is sent to us from God. These concepts might seem very abstract, and one might feel that there is a difficult code here that has to be broken. But then the poetic hymn comes to a climax at verse fourteen, which is the very verse that we celebrate at Christmas: "The Word was made flesh and he lives among us". After the abstract-sounding initial description of the Word, we suddenly hear that he became flesh! And he came to live among us!

            But let us recall where the Prologue departed from. At the beginning of the passage, we had heard the Word described as the light that illuminates every person. This light was sent from God and is life-giving. In order to be life-giving, it must be accepted. And then we are told that this Word took on human flesh. Thus He is not some sort of legendary myth, but is a concrete person. He took on flesh, thus he is not simply a spirit, but is flesh and blood like we are. He came to live among us, thus he is not distant from us.

What exactly is the glory of God? How do we behold it?

The passage from St John's Gospel continues: "And we saw his glory". So we encounter a person - concrete flesh and blood - and we contemplate his glory.  This term "glory" needs to be explained. It does not refer to some sort of ostentatious or triumphalist exhibition. In Hebrew the word for glory is kabod, and refers to the weight or value of something. The glory of God is his authentic value. To contemplate the glory of God is to recognize his true worth. Sometimes we see the genuine glory of a person - not in moments of success or triumph - but in difficult moments when he is challenged to respond to adversity. John says in his Prologue that we have seen the glory of the Lord. What is he referring to here? Later in the Gospel, we discover that this glory was manifested on the cross and in the resurrection. But the point that is important for us now at Christmas is that God has made himself visible and tangible. The first letter of St John speaks of that which our eyes have seen, our ears have heard and our hands have touched. In other words, we have sensible contact with God. Christmas announces that God is at arm's reach, that he is here among us, that it is not true that he is distant from us. The experience that has been transmitted to us by the Christians of the first century who had direct contact with the Lord is that God is not a concept to be understood, but is a baby that was born in humble circumstances, and who has grown up among us. Where does God manifest himself? In a life like ours! The fact that he has manifested himself in this way makes it possible for each of us to behold the glory of God. The fact that Jesus became flesh shows that it is not true that our existence is one that must be rescued from the flesh, but rather that our flesh itself has been redeemed. Our flesh has become the temple of the Holy Spirit.

            It is no longer the case that we must wait until we go to paradise to behold the glory of God. We have the experience of concretely experiencing God here on earth. He has made himself visible. Christianity is more than a series of values. There are values involved in being a Christian, but they are derivative of an encounter with a concrete person. The shepherds found this person in the most banal of circumstances - a child with its mother - and we too can find him in these most normal of circumstances.

The glory of God is revealed in his emptying of himself to make real contact with each of us

If I understand the flesh of Christ, then I understand my own. If I see the glory of God, then I begin to understand my own value and relevance. If I begin to appreciate how much God was willing to empty himself in order to be close to me, then I begin to understand who I truly am. Through the act of beholding him, I behold my own dignity. Here we are not speaking solely of an experience of the generosity of God. If the God who made the cosmos, who formed the galaxies, makes himself nothing in order to be with you and me, then what does that make us? This is what Christmas proclaims.

            How many wrong ideas we have about God! If we wish to know him better, then look at him this Christmas. Look at how humble he is, how available he is, completely given, entirely gift. Let us rejoice in this gift; let us rejoice that the Lord became flesh. If the Lord became flesh, then how important it is to have a body! How relevant it is to have flesh and to be alive. As John Paul II said, if God was not displeased to become a human being, then how truly important it must be to be a human being!