Gospel Lectio Divina for The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) - December 25, 2022
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
READ
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, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.
MEDITATE
In the beginning was the Word.
With these six words, John begins his Gospel. And on the Sixth Day he created man. If there ever was a verse in the Bible that was suitable for meditation, this is it. There is symmetry and poetry throughout John’s Gospel, but especially in the first chapter. I remember memorizing the chapter along with the Nicene Creed and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, as some of the most beautiful and most important literature ever written. The whole chapter, but especially the first six words, are so significant because they declare the most pivotal moment in human history: the Incarnation of the God who created everything. When we think of Christmas, we may think of a cute and innocent baby lying in a manger, but the mystery lies in the profundity of that simple moment. That baby is the Word of God who existed from the beginning.
John was fully aware of the significance of Jesus’ birth, and emphasized that significance with more than just a historical narrative, which Matthew, Mark and Luke already provided. To understand the beginning of something is to understand what it is. So John takes us to the beginning of everything. He doesn’t bother specifying what beginning he is talking about. Just as the author of Genesis wrote, he simply wrote “In the beginning” because that’s where the story of the Bible starts, so that’s where his Gospel needs to start. John wrote his Gospel after the other three. The story of Jesus had been told for the Jews, the Gentiles, and the common man. A new perspective was needed, one that provided a bit of a prequel, one that looked a little more closely into what was happening in the spiritual realm.
And the Word was God.
God gave man language so that man could better understand him, because language--in a way--is him. The Word is the Second Person of the Trinity. Language is one of God's distinct marks on humanity. The other animals do not have this mark. This is why Aristotle distinguished us as "rational animals". The word for "word" in Greek is "logos", which also means "reason" in Greek. Our ability to reason and speak, to have discourse, debate, converse, write poetry, write stories, write computer code, do math equations, etcetera, these are all traits from God. Our ability to use words to communicate truth makes us co-creators with God the Creator.
Over time, this gift from God, the gift of the Word, was taken for granted by man. After Jesus lived, died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, Christians spent hundreds of years meditating on the mysteries they just experienced: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us! These centuries of faith and wonder flowered into a Golden Age of the Church when Scholastic philosophy reigned and gave birth to universities, along with many of the sciences. All of this, I believe, came from the deep and saintly meditation on the Word of God becoming flesh, the incarnate act of the Creator.
Scholastic philosophy came into the mainstream of the Church in the Middle Ages, and it gave us many good things, but many claim that it also had the seeds of modern philosophy germinating in its depths. William of Ockham, a philosopher of the 14th century, is known for being the father of nominalism, a philosophy that taught that our words are nothing more than our personal interpretation of truth. From this philosophy arose relativism, subjectivism, and modern epistemology, not to mention the popular Cartesian thought that the only validation of my existence is my ability to think ("I think, therefore I am”).
So, from a lack of appreciation for the God-given gift of the Word Incarnate came many of the ailments of modernity. Lack of Faith in the Word has led to a universal skepticism. Today many of us believe we can believe whatever we want, and act whatever way we want because truth–and by extension all our actions–are considered to be relative by so many people. Lack of reverence for the Word of God has led to our lack of appreciation for truth, and this has led to the widespread belief that nothing is true, nothing matters, and that we humans–not God– are the arbiters of right and wrong. All of this has come from not loving Jesus, the Word Incarnate.
All things came to be through him.
This makes sense since God spoke everything into being. He used his words. Whatever he speaks becomes reality. That is why, by extension, Jesus–the Word of God–can say he is the Truth.
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Let me just end my meditation on those words. This Gospel passage is jam-packed with more than the biggest zip file you ever downloaded. But John sums up the reality of it all as well as any human can with these words, which we wisely put at the heart of the Angelus while appropriately kneeling. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. All praise and glory be to his holy name.
PRAY
Word Incarnate,
I must pause in awe of your magnificent creation and your plan. I could go on and on about how miraculous and perfect your will is, but in the end the most important thing is to just stop and praise you. Thank you for becoming flesh to dwell among us, so we can make the connections between you and your creation, your love, your mercy, your salvation. This Christmas, help me to see the truth more clearly so I can recognize your light shining in the dark winter night. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen
LISTEN
In the beginning was the Word. That Word speaks all around us, from the stars to the Scripture and everywhere in between. Can we listen close enough to hear him on that silent night? Jesus didn’t come with a bang or a crash. With all the chaos that was happening around him, he came quietly. Are we paying close enough attention to hear and appreciate the significance of this holy event, the arrival of the Word Incarnate, the Son of God?
Kilby is a freelance writer from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report. He received his undergrad degree in humanities and Catholic culture from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In addition to working with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist (knights.org), he has served as a journalist for Princeton Packet Publications, and the Trenton Monitor, the magazine for the Diocese of Trenton. Some of his published work can also be found in St. Anthony Messenger, Catholic Herald (UK), and Catholic World Report. For the latter he is managing editor. Find more of his writing at ramblingspirit.com.