January 2nd 2022. Second Sunday after Christmas

GOSPEL  John 1:1-18

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

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

 

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GOSPEL        John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word:

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things came to be,

not one thing had its being but through him.

All that came to be had life in him

and that life was the light of men,

a light that shines in the dark,

a light that darkness could not overpower.

A man came, sent by God.

His name was John.

He came as a witness,

as a witness to speak for the light,

so that everyone might believe through him.

He was not the light,

only a witness to speak for the light.

The Word was the true light

that enlightens all men;

and he was coming into the world.

He was in the world

that had its being through him,

and the world did not know him.

He came to his own domain

and his own people did not accept him.

But to all who did accept him

he gave power to become children of God,

to all who believe in the name of him

who was born not out of human stock

or urge of the flesh

or will of man

but of God himself.

The Word was made flesh, he lived among us,

and we saw his glory,

the glory that is his

as the only Son of the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John appears as his witness. He proclaims:

‘This is the one of whom I said:

He who comes after me ranks before me

because he existed before me’.

Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received –

yes, grace in return for grace,

since, though the Law was given through Moses,

grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God;

it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,

who has made him known.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

HOMILY

1. Too often, our vision is focused on immediate and instantaneous things, and we forget the ultimate purpose of our existence, the blessing to which we are called in heaven.

The Gospel for Sunday is from the Prologue of John’s Gospel. As a key of interpretation, for a change, let us consider the joyous opening words of the letter to the Ephesians: “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ”. This blessing is a little peculiar. It is not concerned with a mundane prosperity or with physical wellbeing. My life is blessed, not because I – living here in this world – now possess this blessing, but so that I will one day arrive at this blessing! My life is a journey towards a blessing that awaits me in heaven. Too often, our vision is focused on immediate and instantaneous things, and we forget the ultimate purpose of our existence. The value of a journey is its destination. If the destination is something wonderful then the journey is great, but if the destination is my destruction, then the journey is a tragedy and a delusion, no matter how enjoyable it may have seemed.

 

2. Humanity is called to happiness, but we are not happy unless we love according to God’s parameters.

The letter continues: “Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and immaculate, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved.” We were elected by him before the creation of the cosmos! Why? To live this holy and immaculate love, not a love according to human parameters but according to Him. Humanity is not happy unless it lives according to this type of authentic heavenly love. The predestination spoken of in this passage is not a guarantee that we will arrive at this level of love. We have indeed been predestined by him, but we can accept or reject God’s plan for us. Every man and woman has been made with the intention that they would arrive at this sublime state of life. But we make do with imitations of this love and as a result we do not find happiness.

 

3. Let us rediscover how precious and wonderful we are - created in Christ to love as he loves.

This passage emphasizes the gratuity of God’s blessing. It is given to us freely and generously. We are invited to echo this generosity in our lives. We have been graced, blessed, loved, chosen. This beauty of ours is something that we constantly forget and is something that is offended and derided around us constantly, in the violence done to women and children and in the fact that we ourselves do not treat ourselves according to the truth of our inner mystery, which is that we are beautiful, set apart, called to a heavenly blessing. At the beginning of the year, let us recall that we have been created in Christ, with a view to sharing in his nature. Let us rediscover how precious and wonderful we are. Let us not undermine ourselves or others with our jealousies. It is not important to compare ourselves to others but to be ourselves and to arrive at the wonderful destination the Lord has marked out for us. Let us begin the year recalling that Christ became human because being human is something good and important. Christ became human flesh because our flesh merited the visitation of God and is worthy of salvation. Let us be conscious of the manner in which we have been blessed and how precious we are!

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

In the Old Testament, we read that God’s wisdom is present in his people. The Gospel reading from John’s Prologue tells us that the wisdom of God, in the form of his only-begotten son, Jesus, comes to live among us. The Greek expression used is to “pitch his tent” among us. Our tendency, generally, is to try to raise ourselves up, to make ourselves greater or more important, to flee our misery, but the Gospel tells us that Christ, the second person of the Trinity, comes in search of us just as we are. He is born in miserable circumstances, in the very circumstances that we seek to avoid. This time of celebrating the incarnation of Christ is not a time to despise who we are but, rather, to welcome the gift that we possess. The fixation of our culture with looks and image, of wanting to be different, is actually a form of non-acceptance of who we are. Christmas tells us that it is exactly in this humble manger, in you and me, that the Lord wishes to become incarnate. We are fixated with beauty, but we are called to real beauty, to discover who we are in the eyes of God. Vatican Two tells us that Christ reveals man to man. Only in Christ do I discover who I am. In John’s Gospel, the theme of the indwelling of God in each of us is very important. It is essential that we stop running away from ourselves in search of “treasures” when the real treasure is within us! Christ died for us on the cross to show how important we are. As John Paul II said, it is great and beautiful to be human because Christ chose to be human. This Christmas, let us allow God to unveil the wonder of our own lives. Even if our lives are difficult and complicated, this does not mean they are not beautiful. The Lord is working in us, leading us to fulness of existence.  Christ shown us the glory of the Father in a manger and upon the cross, two places that are not ideal according to our vision of success and affirmation. Here Christ shows us that he can dwell in every situation, every challenge and every difficulty. This Second Sunday of Christmas may we continue to be filled with the desire to live the Christian life, which is a wonderful life always and in whatever circumstance!