One With Us

Nativity of our Lord
25 December 2008


Christ has been born for us: come, let us worship him.

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.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 97:1-6

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 Grace Madrinan

I like this new telecommunications commercial I just saw on television. The scene started with a baby listening to his father’s voice on the cell phone. The voice said, “Hello baby, sinong love mo?” (“Hello baby, who is your love?”) The moment the baby hears these words, he will laugh heartily. This goes on for years. The child never met his father, until one day he came home. The child did not recognize him, so he ran away when he first saw him. The father called the child once again on the cell phone, with the same words through the years, “Hello baby, sinong love mo?” And when he finally realized that the man and the bearer of that voice he knew is one and the same, the child finally ran to embrace his father. ©

This is the same reason why our Father sent His only son to us, and that is to introduce His love for us in flesh. The people of Israel heard of a Messiah coming, from the words of the Prophet Isaiah and testimonies of John the Baptist. Today, with the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14)

Before Jesus, God existed as a ‘voice’ from the clouds, a strong wind, only seen at the highest mountains by the anointed – a distant God. But with Jesus Christ coming into the world, our Father has presented a tangible declaration of His love for us. Our Father, although He is God, initiated to be one with us through Jesus who is our light and salvation. Let us therefore rejoice, sing merry hymns and be glad!






Father, how great is Your love for us! Thank You for sending us Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ into the world. May everyone recognize Your presence among us now and forever. Amen.