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Master·evangeli.net

Today's Gospel + short theological explanation

December 25th: The Nativity of the Lord (Mass During the Day)
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Gospel text (Jn 1,1-18): 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 were made through him and without him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in him, life which for humans was also light. Light that shines in the dark: light that darkness could not overcome.

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light.

For the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He was already in the world and through him the world was made, the very world that did not know him. He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but all who have received him he empowers to become children of God for they believe in his Name. These are born, but without seed or carnal desire or will of man: they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.

John bore witness to him openly, saying: «This is the one who comes after me, but he is already ahead of me for he was before me». From his fullness we have all received, favor upon favor. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made him known: the one who is in and with the Father.

Christmas: "His own people did not receive him"

EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)

Today, we meditate the birth of the Eternal Son of God - in Bethlehem, as it had been prophesied - and the Virgin wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them (cf. Lk 2,7). Reflecting with faith, we find in these words a parallelism with what was said in the "Prologue of Saint John" (1,11): "He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him". There is no place for the Savior of the world! He who was crucified outside the gates of the city was also born outside its walls.

This should make us think and refer to the change of values that are in the figure of Jesus Christ, in his message. From his birth, He does not belong to that important and powerful environment that was according to the world. And yet, precisely this irrelevant and powerless man is revealed as the really Powerful one.

-To be a Christian means to leave the range of what everyone thinks and wants, of the dominant criteria, to enter into the light of the truth about our being.