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Nativity of the Lord 2010
Day Mass
John 1, 1-18 (p. 216)

For this Mass of Christmas Day, the Church offers for our meditation the prologue of the Gospel according to John . This Gospel is without doubt one of the most beautiful in the whole Bible. How not to get hit first the beauty of literary form? John's prologue deserves indeed to be counted among the masterpieces of world literature. The beauty of writing and composition, John wants to serve the divine revelation. The prologue of his Gospel is beautiful because it reveals a depth of view with a unique mystery of the incarnation: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us". If Luke on the night of Christmas is trying to relate as closely as possible the occurrence of the manger, John, he chooses to distance himself from the narrative of the birth to immerse ourselves in the heart of the mystery that it inaugurates. We all perceive the density of this theological prologue that introduces us to the Savior's birth in a broader context, that of God's plan of salvation for humanity.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, and John has the audacity to begin his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, the Word of God ... . How not to think about the very first page of the Bible at the beginning of the book of Genesis? "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." We could read and meditate in parallel the first chapter of Genesis and the prologue of the Gospel according to St. John. These two biblical texts illuminate each other. In his prologue, John strongly emphasizes the creative role of the Word, the Word of God. God created all things by His only begotten Son, by His Word. When the beautiful poem of Genesis we find the refrain: "God said," then we understand that this is a theological formula hidden in a speech to the seemingly mundane ... Yes, God says because he has a word, and it is the expression of his word he brings out the nothingness of being and existence. And he creates the first day of creation? Light, it sépare des ténèbres. Une lumière qui a un sens spirituel puisque le soleil est créé seulement au 4ème jour... Et que lisons-nous dans notre prologue à propos du Verbe de Dieu ? « En lui était la vie, et la vie était la lumière des hommes ; la lumière brille dans les ténèbres, et les ténèbres ne l’ont pas arrêtée ». Cette démonstration est peut-être difficile à suivre pour ceux qui n’ont pas une connaissance familière de ces textes mais elle nous indique une vérité précieuse dans le message transmis par l’évangéliste : A Noël, à l’instant où le Verbe se fait chair, c’est une nouvelle création qui commence, une recréation. La Genèse nous apprend que nous avons été créés à l’image de Dieu, selon sa ressemblance, par sa Parole. Cet Evangile nous révèle qu’à Noël Dieu crée pour lui des fils et des filles en nous donnant sa Parole, son Fils unique : « Il leur a donné de pouvoir devenir enfants de Dieu. Ils ne sont pas nés de la chair et du sang, ni d’une volonté charnelle, ni d’une volonté d’homme : ils sont nés de Dieu ». le grand mystère de l’incarnation annonce le mystère de notre renaissance par le baptême. Le Fils de Dieu se fait homme, pour que tout homme puisse devenir fils de Dieu. Voilà the main meaning of the mystery we celebrate in joy and gratitude. In the second reading we as a summary of the history of salvation history of alliances between God and men. There is first the fundamental alliance, that of Genesis, that of creation. That is what, we are conscious or not: we are all creatures of God, we bring into our lives, even injured, the trace of the creative Word. And before you reach the perfection of the New Covenant inaugurated by the mystery of Christmas, there was the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant in which the creatures were called to serve God to find salvation. With the Incarnation, God wants us forge bonds of friendship, affection, trust and love. It does not just what it is. He does not want to see us just servants, but he wants to call his friends. Christmas does not show us what we are, if not our condition baptized, but what we need to be: the friends of God. John sums up all that a synthetic way in his prologue: "After the Act communicated through Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

In view of what we have to meditate under the guidance of St. John, I'll turn to the great Bishop of Lyons, St. Irenaeus:

"Yes, it is the Word of God dwelt in man, and who became the son of man, to accustom man to receive God and to accustom God to dwell in man as seemed good to the Father. "