[Propertalk] 1 Christmas b - part 2

[Robert P Morrison]

Here's the second part for this Sunday, after proofing, etc.
Bob
 Notice that the writer doesn’t take the time to say how this
happened. No stories here about Mary and God’s messenger having a
chat about the birds and the bees. No stories here about an arduous
journey to the birth or another about enforced departure to become
aliens in another land. The Gospel writer recognises all the mystery
that’s involved in God’s action, and isn’t troubled by it.
What’s been written, then, stand for all time. No matter how
developed human become; no matter what scientific advances occur; no
matter how much farther and deeper into the universe we can scan;
there will ALWAYS be mystery which we are invited to accept in faith.
THAT’S why the author was giving the first and second century
followers of Jesus encouragement and reinforcement, just as we’re
being given encouragement and reinforcement. You and I mustn’t ever
lose sight of the unbelievably loving  “Creator of the stars of
night,” 3 who brought such a powerful, searching Light that so
enlightens the world that, try as hard as we might, we simply cannot
extinguish it totally.

	 The opening verses, then, not only tell us that Jesus is God, and
describe God in some way, but they offer the underlying theme of
warning that the person who came among us was responsible for creation
and that everything which Jesus is credited with saying and doing
stands as the unwavering benchmark against which the behavior and
speech of us all will be measured.

	 Is this another surprise, one that’s now unribboned, unwrapped and
revealed? Jesus was an incredibly loving and compassionate human
being, not to forget His powerful healing activity. But Jesus is also
completely Divine. Jesus IS God, therefore, what He said, what He
showed about life by example, is not to be brushed off. And, to go
back to the insight of John O’Donohue, no life is to be lived alone
or unreachable. EVERYONE is our responsibility, precisely because
everyone is God’s responsibility. 
 The opening to this Gospel goes on from the acknowledgement of
Jesus’ Divinity. The writer placed God directly into history by
referring to this “man sent from God, whose name was John”. John,
now known as the Baptiser, was described as having been given the
responsibility of drawing people to see and know who Jesus is. The
“Creator of the stars of night”, who brought the “people’s
everlasting light,” came first to bring us encouragement and hope,
freedom and salvation. But, secondly, the Star-Creator focused in
directly on the needs of everyone, especially those who were made
lonely, who were made unreachable. The Star-Creator points not only to
reveal and make known God, but, at the same time, the incredible
Star-Creator points to those around us, asking us, “How are your
neigbours? What is there life like? Where do they live? How do they
feel?”

	 Brother Curtis of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, a group of
monks living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who focus especially on what
the writer of the Fourth Gospel teaches about Jesus; Brother Curtis
wrote, “As we (continue to) gather to remember and adore Jesus, the
Messiah, so many things remain unchanged since last Christmas, and the
Christmas before, and for that matter, 2,000 years ago. Many of the
problems and challenges of our world are tragic, enduring problems,
and in some ways worse than ever before. The only thing that is new,
or that has the potential to be new in our meeting up again with Jesus
on this Christmas celebration is the response of our own hearts: the
gift of a new heart.” 4

	  It’s never too late to think about surprises. It’s never too
late to remember that the Surpriser-in-Chief is God, in Jesus, who is
Love Present, for us and for all, whose hands reach from the place of
His birth, to the Table set out in front of us right now, to the
Joyful Feast prepared for us from and for all eternity.

	 No one is, nor will ever be, alone. No one is, or ever will be,
unreachable. Jesus has seen to that, and allowed us to see our role in
continuing in the faith.

	 May the Light of Christ live within us for ever.

	NOTES:

	[1]  _“To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings”_ by
John O’Donohue. Doubleday, New York, N.Y. © 2008. Page xiii.

	2 John 20:30-31 “continue to believe” occurs in some ancient
manuscripts. See Adele Reinhartz in _“The Jewish Annotated New
Testament”,_ edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler. Oxford
University Press, New York, N.Y. © 2011. Page 154.

	3 _“Conditor alma siderum” _ Unknown 7th or 9th century author.
Poem translated by John Mason Neale (1818-1866) See _Hymnal 1982_, No.
60, et al. 

	4_ “Meet Jesus Again – Brother, Give us a Word”_ by Br. Curtis
Almquist, S.S.J.E.. 23rd December, 2017
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