Sirach 24:1-2, 8-12, Eph 1:3-6, 15-18; John 1:1-18
Today, for the second time over Christmas we are offered the Prologue form of John’s Gospel (Jn 1:1-18).
It seems that we are being asked to think big – very BIG! The opening words “in the beginning”, bring us to Genesis 1 and another poem in which we are asked to contemplate another beginning, the mystery of creation in all its wonder.
Yet here, in these verses, John suggests that we look again at everything that exists and see it through the lens of the Word. What does it mean to say that “In the beginning was the Word”?
Perhaps the great scholar Erasmus can help us here because he translated this as “in the beginning was a conversation”. That conversation in God issues in light and that light gives life and is a light that the darkness will not overcome. So, God wants me now to embrace the light and the life that comes from it. God is sending me to be a witness to this light and to testify to the world that our very existence is a call to have faith in the truth, beauty and goodness that lie at the heart of creation. This is what Christmastide is all about, Christ – the Light of the World.
So, at this beginning of 2022, let us pray to the God of beginnings: “Begin again in us and sow the seed of your eternal word in the everyday soil of our hearts. Let it grow there so that, in the daily round of our lives, we may become gentle yet powerful witnesses to your light. In this deep mid-winter, surrounded as we are by uncertainty, may the light you sow in us through your Word burn brightly and become a source of hope and joy for all whom we meet.
Amen”
Image: Photo by Sam Moqadam on Unsplash
Sean Goan
