Christmas Day 2022 readings, Dawn and Day

In the beginning…
     In the beginning…

Where does this phrase take you? In the beginning? I thought of the creation story in Genesis. Then John’s Gospel. Both seem one and the same. Except, in the dark void Light existed, the WORD.

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…
a dark void.

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God
And the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through HIM, THE WORD…THE LIGHT
All creation came to be through the Word.

Imagine ourselves sitting with the Trinity deciding how to take care of humanity for since the beginning humans were struggling. God has always desired to live in relationship with them. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God, the Creator, makes a covenant saying: I will be your God and you shall be my people. More was needed. People seemed not to hear, nor understand what God, Creator had given or desired.

In union with Trinity, the Wholeness of God, the Word, the Christ with the Spirit chooses to enter into the human experience, totally from being born of a woman, unto death. Trinity asks Mary to be Mother of God. She said YES!

And the Word became Flesh – The New Creation
And made his dwelling among us,
And we saw his glory,
The glory of God’s only Son
Full of grace and truth.

Behold! It is Christmas! No more darkness but LIGHT. A birthing, LIFE is given. This life was the light of the human race. God with us. God’s name is Jesus! This gift of self generously and lovingly given in kindness and with mercy. Is this Christmas for you?

Christmas narratives give us many images of what that first Christmas was like. We have a manger, shepherds, kings, animals, stars with one that shone brighter than all the others. Yes, too, Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Can you imagine yourself there? What is in your heart?

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God! Christmas is a cosmic experience of stars, creation and of the Christ, the center of the universe. It is celebrated among many cultures in unique ways. Nature, Creation, Faith, and Cultures come together as light returns, stars show the way and Hope is realized in a tiny baby born for us and our salvation. Love is given!

May we never forget that first Christmas when God was born into humanity. The First Noel! The First Birth of a pregnant God overflowing with Love and Life through Mary becomes flesh. May we never forget that Christ is with us, now, through the Spirit.

If we have imagined ourselves with the Trinity, around a table in the beginning, imagine how we continue to meet that wholeness of God at the Eucharistic Table and in our homes, persons, dwellings places of God. We may have our own small Creche to make Christmas not just a memory, but real and present.

Let us go, then, to Bethlehem
To see this thing that has taken place
Which the Lord has made known…

Go now to the Bethlehem of your heart and meet Jesus. Be still. Listen. Be amazed!

We humans, in union with all of creation, are heirs in hope of eternal life where we will forever be one in Christ, knowing the fullness and wholeness of a loving Creator who is  Self-giving Love made flesh, God among us. God with us! Now! Today! Everyday! Christmas Eternal!

This great feast day of the Incarnation, Christmas, lives on in and through each of us. It does when we give witness to Christ Jesus’ Word, his presence in our world today. We too, through our actions can give birth to Jesus in a struggling world. May we see, hear, speak, and live as Jesus taught, so that the Christ, the New Creation, may come to fullness. Christmas IS a new beginning celebrating Christ the New Creation.

Let us reflect upon our beginning with gratitude being one with a God who loves us so greatly chose to become human and enter into our human experience.

In the beginning…You formed my inmost being;
You knit me in my mother’s womb….(Psalm 139:13)

In the beginning…
The WORD became Flesh and made his dwelling among us! (John 1:14)

Merry Christmas!