I Meet Christ In Me And In Others

Nativity of Our Lord
25 December 2007


First reading Isaiah 52:7 - 10
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God is king!’ Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices, they shout for joy together, for they see the Lord face to face, as he returns to Zion. Break into shouts of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord is consoling his people, redeeming Jerusalem. The Lord bares his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Second reading Hebrews 1:1 - 6
At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.

God has never said to any angel: You are my Son, today I have become your father; or: I will be a father to him and he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.

Gospel John 1:1 - 18
In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him
and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.

A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.

The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through him,
and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain
and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to all who believe in the name of him
who was born not out of human stock
or urge of the flesh
or will of man
but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.

John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
‘This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me ranks before me
because he existed before me’.

Indeed, from his fulness we have, all of us, received –
yes, grace in return for grace,
since, though the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.

Reflection
By Anabelle P. Balla

I believe that each one of us were born with the seed of goodness deep within our being. That Christ dwells in this seed of goodness inside us and it is up to us how we make it grow. The question is how are we helping this seed of goodness grow? Can we feel it growing in us?

We carry Christ within us. Do we feel Him inside us? Do we know the Christ in us? And can others see the Christ in us? What kind of Christ are they seeing in us? I hope we all show a beautiful image of Christ through our thoughts, our words and our actions.

If Christ is in me then Christ lives in you too, in everyone! Christ is our strongest link to each other and the only one who can bring us to our Father in heaven. John 4:20-21 says, “I will tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” Anyone who says, I love God and hates his brother is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God who he has never seen. So is the commandment that he has given us that anyone who loves God must also love his brother.

Do we try to acknowledge and respect the Christ in others? Do we show kindness and love to everyone no matter who they are or are we being selective?

We have been given the opportunity to grow Christ in us and in others, to proclaim His glory and serve Him joyfully. I found the following effective in nurturing the Christ in me:

Feed the Christ in me with prayers and God’s words everyday.

Create a beautiful and lovable image of Christ through good deeds and words of encouragement

Seek Jesus Christ everyday, talk to Him as frequent as possible.

Be Christ-like to myself and to others, let others see and feel the Christ in me.

Take courage and grab every opportunity to share Christ and proclaim Him as my Savior, the Truth and the Life.

I am sure there are more things we can do to grow Christ in us and you may have a lot in your list that you can share.

Let us all grow the Christ in us and be more like Him everyday so we can always bring Him to others, and bring others to His presence. Together, let us make Christ’ image in this world beautiful, respected and honored by all. And may His image grow so big for everyone to see and become our eternal source of lasting joy and strength.