Jesus, the light, shines in the darkness December 25

Merry Christmas!

(Readings from the Nativity of the Lord, Mass During the Day)

By Beth De Cristofaro

Piety

Light, Word, Salvation, Brother, God…As an infant, Your beauty is a personification of Love. I thank you for the beauty and blessings in my life. Thank you for your presence in my home. Thank you for your presence in the darkness. Thank you for your presence in my confusion and doubt. Thank you for loving me and others around me so very much that you chose to become one of us. Help me each day to give you glory by my piety, my study and my actions.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/122506c.shtml

Celebration! Victory! God is With Us! Isaiah exults in lyric poetry of the ending of exile. The Israelites, through the intervention of their God, return from Babylon to their promised land. “Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem. …all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.” (Is 52:9-10)

Triumph for the people of God is commemorated in the psalm: “his right hand has won victory for him…in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.”, (Ps. 98:2, 3)

Paul explains that the Chosen People, through the prophets, were given fragmentary visions of what would come in the person of Jesus, Son, redeemer, mediator of creation who existed with his Father before he appeared as man. [1]

And John names him. Here is the one who comes to heal the chasm between mortal and immortal, between divine and corporeal, between Wisdom and the all-too ephemeral choices that I make each day. God is With Us, enrobed in Flesh invoking Light, Life and Truth.

Victory! Adoration. Joy!

Action

Find some quiet today to picture yourself at the Nativity. Look at the beautiful baby (are not all babies beautiful!). It is quiet as the Holy Family rests. The scents of a barnyard and recent birth fill the chill daytime. But, as part of the family, you are welcomed to hold your new baby brother, this Holy Child. You delight in snuggling him to your chest and watch as He sleeps, twitching as babies will, wrinkling up his lips, stirring and raising a tiny hand. Wonder in holding this baby. Rejoice in the Hope he represents. Be glad that your Brother, who is now grown and come into his inheritance with the Father, wants to hold you close in an embrace of forgiving love. Celebrate in the fact that your Brother chooses to spend time with you. Give great thanks for His presence in your life. Spend time with Him.

DeColores

Beth DeCristofaro

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[1] New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews1.htm#v1