Just as the overture to a Broadway musical sounds themes that will recur in later songs, so the Prologue to John’s gospel read on Christmas day begins ideas that will be developed later. One that is especially relevant today is how God seeks out human beings, making them God’s own children. Always, God tries to change human darkness into stunning light.
To apply that truth to our own experience, we might reflect on verse 16: “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” What have been the special graces in our lives, spilling over from God’s fullness? Have we been aware of them, and thankful?
No matter what our worries are: about scarcity or loss, unemployment or loneliness, illness or death, today we try to rest in the fullness of God’s overflowing love. This is a day to focus on the wonder of God becoming human, uplifting us all to be brothers and sisters of Jesus. Isaiah expresses the good news: “the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem” (52:9). In this case, Jerusalem stands for all of us: redeemed, graced, blessed, joyful.
On this most difficult 2020 Christmas, we see in stunning clarity our need for redemption. Around us, the death, illness and grief mount. Now more than ever, we can identify with the Christ Child: weak, vulnerable, unable to protect himself. If God can share our lot, pitch a tent within us, maybe we can find some glimmer of hope, some sign we’ve not been abandoned?
Kathy Coffey 