A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 5)
Christmas Day, Year B – December 25, 2005
“Behold the Salvation of Our God!”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 52:7-10 // Heb 1:1-6 // Jn 1:1-18
N.B. This new series of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY presents a biblico-liturgical study of the Old Testament reading of each Sunday Mass to serve as background for a better understanding of the Gospel proclaimed in the liturgy. For a biblico-liturgical study of the Gospel for each Sunday, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
The liturgy of Christmas is full of exuberance and joy. We rejoice in this great saving event of the birth of a child, the Savior of the world – the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the Mass during the day of Christmas, the Prologue of the evangelist John is proclaimed, a text of extraordinary theological and contemplative intensity. According to the authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 1: “It gives us a gradual understanding of the mysteries of Christ as revealed in Jesus’ teachings and the signs that he worked throughout his life. This great literary and mystical composition is a kind of contemplative hymn to Christ: forever near God and bound to his work of creation, he has been sent into the world where he has assumed human flesh in order to reveal the Father to all and to communicate to them his own divine sonship … God’s Son is born to make known to us the unseen God. He is to die on the cross, be gloriously resurrected, and communicate to us the fullness of his life. To grasp the meaning and importance of the Christmas event and to enter into its dynamism, we must try to encompass, in one great overview, the whole history of salvation: from the beginning, when God created the heaven and the earth, to the end, when all who are saved will be assembled in the heavenly Jerusalem.” Indeed, the beautiful event of Christmas should be celebrated as part of the paschal mystery – in the context of God’s grandiose, all-encompassing plan of salvation.
Because God has spoken his most beautiful, radical and definitive word of love in the Word-made-flesh, Jesus Christ, the people who behold and experience this marvelous event of divine salvation become Gospel bearers and messengers of joy. The power and novelty that the birth of our Lord brings into our life can be better savored and the missionary commitment that the Christmas experience demands from each believer can be better understood if we consider the Old Testament reading (Is 52:7-10). Having experienced that Yahweh would not tolerate enemies gloating over his people Israel, the prophet Isaiah writes a lyrical hymn punctuated with joyful excitement.
Susan Myers explains the context of the Old Testament text: “Announcing the end of the exile in Babylon and the restoration of Jerusalem, a messenger runs along the mountaintops, shouting out the good news that God rules over all the earth. During the Babylonian exile, it must sometimes have seemed that God was no longer in power and could not save the people of Judah, living in captivity. But the Persians under King Cyrus defeated the Babylonians, confirming the hopes of those who trusted in God. The beautiful passage that forms today’s reading also announces the end of the exile through the words of the guards in the towers above the city, and even through the stones of the ruined city of Jerusalem. God was understood to be with the people as they returned to their beloved homeland. Throughout the exile, God remained with the people and now joins them in coming home, restored as well to the proper divine dwelling.”
In this poetic text, the prophet Isaiah depicts the climactic joy and delineates the dynamic increase of those who avow the salvation of God: from the bearer of good news who announces peace and salvation, acclaiming: “Your God is King”, to the sentinels of the city who resound the joyful message of the saving act of Yahweh; from the people of Jerusalem who are being enjoined to break forth into a song of salvation to the peoples from all nations and the ends of the earth who will witness the marvelous deeds of God. In the context of the Christmas celebration, the lyrical and ecstatic character of this Old Testament passage becomes an invitation to sheer joy and utmost thanksgiving for the coming of the Son of God, the “Gospel” incarnate, who brings the fullness of salvation to the whole world.
On this Christmas day, we therefore rejoice that God is present in the birth of his Son, born of a woman. We sing the good news that God reigns and that his saving plan is accomplished. Moreover, as a people whose Advent expectations have been satisfied, we take heed of the following Christmas exhortation of St. Leo the Great: “Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Sr. Mary Marta Soza PDDM
In meditating on the beginning of the Gospel of John, I can only turn to the Blessed Sacrament and thank Jesus for his wonderful, everlasting love that makes us realize who we truly are: children of God and heirs of eternal splendor, majesty and glory. And I just keep gazing upon this little piece of Bread which contains the presence of the Word of God, dwelling both in Eternity and in time, and silently drawing us into his abiding sphere of love.
At his first coming, the Eternal Word assumed a “mortal body bound by space and time; but now, he has a risen body no longer bound by time and space. From the moment of his resurrection and ascension, his presence is a new reality” (cf. Documents from the 2005 Eucharistic Synod). Are we “aware” of the new reality we live in? I think that if we are we will be leaping for joy for the world will be free of violence and darkness. The fact is that by incarnating, the Word of God has brought the Kingdom of God into our midst; has brought light, love and life to the world.
Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical letter Redemptor Hominis, states: “Christ, the Redeemer of the world, is the one who penetrated in a unique, unrepeatable way into the mystery of man and entered his heart.” This is the unquestionable answer to the problems of the world: each human heart must give birth to the Word of God for the darkness to vanish. But I ask: “How can I prepare my heart?” I then turn to Mary and ask her to accept me in the school of Nazareth where she teaches in simplicity how to listen, how to accept and allow the Word of God to become incarnate in each of us. The Word can only be conceived in simple hearts that, like Mary’s, are open and empty of egotistical pursuits. Then the Kingdom of God will be realized in all its glory.
It is no surprise then that the beloved disciple was able to speak so eloquently about the Divine Word and understand so keenly who Jesus was. Mary, who through the power of the Holy Spirit conceived the Word of God in her womb, was there with him as his own mother. John must have experienced Mary’s perfect love of God and humanity; and in her fruitful silence, she must have led him to experience her Son, God himself, permeating all of this created reality. The kingdom of God is in our midst!
Let us then tread the path to Bethlehem to worship the King of creation who has pitched his tent among us; and as we walk this road, may the little Child transform our hearts and illumine our eyes to recognize him in friend and foe, in beautiful sunshine or cloudy days, in bright colors and sweet melodies … And at finding him, let us join the whole of creation in singing harmoniously: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth!”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. How do we respond to the great mystery of Love: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14)?
B. On this Christmas day, the birthday of life, do we allow ourselves to be filled with joy and endeavor to cast out the fears and anxieties that bring sadness to our hearts?
C. Are we bearers of the Gospel joy? How do we make the people around see and feel the salvation of our God? What do we do to make the spirit of Christmas alive and palpable in today’s world?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Adapted from J. Chrestien’s prayer)
Refrain: Today, your kingdom is at hand.
Come among us, Lord Jesus!
1. The Son of God, the King of Glory,
wished to be born among us;
he came on our earth
and left the mark of his love. (Ref.)
2. Those who walked in darkness
have seen their night dispelled,
and on the people in distress
a light has shone. (Ref.)
3. In our night arises the dawn
of his justice and peace.
God sends his deliverance,
and he will never abandon us. (Ref.)
4. He has shown us the way;
he is laden with our sorrows;
and we march toward his Promise,
his love shining in our faces. (Ref.)
5. When the Holy City will appear,
when the new heavens will open,
we will relish life without end
before the throne of the Lamb. (Ref.)
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.” (Is 52:10)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: On this Christmas day, pray that you may truly experience the joy and the peace that the Son of God brings into our hearts. Spread the joy of Christmas by your acts of charity and self-giving to the poor, the needy and the marginalized.
B. ACTION PLAN: To celebrate Christmas in a more meaningful and prayerful way and in order to give homage to Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh and the living Bread for the life of the world, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 2, n. 5): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Website: WWW.PDDM.US