The Living Word

     MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!

     The Gospel reading for the Christmas Mass during the day is a favorite of mine and brings back memories.  It comes from John, and begins "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  That marvelous reading that introduces us to the Living Word of God, present for all time in the Godhead, yet made flesh in the Incarnation and brought into this world on that night in Bethlehem of Judea long ago, intersperses the word about The Word with the introduction and mission of the son of Elizabeth and Zachariah, John.  It is the reading that many of us remember as "the last gospel", said by the priest at the side of the Altar after the final blessing.

     That Word was in the beginning.  When God the creator called all things into being, it was his Word (Jesus) that voiced his desire, and it was their Spirit that gave life.  As our relationship with God and time itself has progressed, we see the Word calling us into intimacy and life.  When "the Word became flesh" heaven and earth was united in a unique way, and nothing has been the same since.

     Words are plentiful.  As I mentioned to the people this morning, the local public library is filled with countless words, my Nook, with the forty some books in my library, has its share, we are bombarded with words on TV or the movies.  Some of the words are inspiring, they lift the spirit, they open the mind and heart.  Some of those words are boring and routine, some even not worthy of recognition.  But there is ONE WORD, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, our life, that is worthy of our attention even as He is desirous of our life.

     On this Christmas Day, let us allow that living Word to permeate our being, to guide our lives and to bring us to life as Children of our Heavenly Father.