CHRISTMAS – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2022

THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Greeting (Cf. Second Reading)
In our own time God has spoken to us
through his own Son,
the radiant light of God’s glory
through whom he made everything.
May this Son, Jesus the Lord, be with you.
R/ And with your spirit.

Introduction
The Word Became Flesh. Today God tells us something very important about the meaning of our Christian faith. Our faith is not just a doctrine in which we believe. God’s Word is not just a doctrine but a person: Jesus. In him God’s Word and promises become alive. God’s Son becomes our brother and the center of our lives. In Jesus God shows us who he is: a saving, loving God, near to people. Through Jesus God binds us to himself and himself to us: he shares our life. Through and with Jesus we can respond to God’s love in faithful commitment to God and each other. Let us celebrate all this with Jesus.
However, Jesus is God’s Definitive Word. Many times in the course of history God spoke and his word was effective and liberating. He spoke, and the world was made. He spoke, and man and woman were created. He spoke, and he created the free nation of Israel, his Chosen People. But Israel refused to listen to God in the prophets and the gloom of sin over the world settled also over his people. God did not give up on humanity. He spoke his definitive Word, Jesus, and Jesus came and was born a child of people. He came to save us. Do we listen to his Word? Do we give him our word of acceptance and love?
And, lastly, God Speaks His Word to Us. In days of suffering and confusion people often cry out: God, where are you? God, why don’t you speak? Today’s celebration reminds us: The Lord has spoken. He still keeps speaking to us in his Son Jesus Christ, in his Gospel, in the Church. We must get attuned to hear his voice, and when we hear it, let us not stifle it when it becomes inconvenient. And let the Lord’s voice resound in our words and actions. Let his words light up our darkness.

Penitential Act
Let us seek pardon from God and one another
for the times we did not accept
the word and the person of Jesus Christ.
(pause)

Lord, you are the Word which your Father spoke
to create us and all things.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you have spoken to us
the liberating words of the Good News
about forgiveness and life.
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are God’s living Word
who made the love of the Father visible
by your life and your death.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Lord, you are here among us.
Speak to us your word
that sets us free from sin.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer
Let us pray
that God’s Word may be alive in us today
(pause)

Our faithful God,
you make yourself known
and speak to us through Jesus Christ,
your image and your living Word.
Open our ears and hearts,
that we may receive your Word and keep it.
Let your Word become flesh among us
also in our words of peace and truth
and in our deeds of justice and love,
of friendship and self-effacing service.
May this be the way by which people recognize
that your Son is alive among us today,
and may they praise you for ever. R/ Amen.

First Reading (Isaiah 52:7-10): The Good News of Liberation
God announces liberation to his people in captivity. This liberation is brought to us today by Jesus.

1 Reading Isaiah 52:7-10
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, “Your God is King!” Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.

Responsorial PSALM 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
R. (3c) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm. R.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel. R.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise. R.

Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD. R.

Second Reading (Hebrews 1:1-6): Now God Speaks To Us Through His Son
God has often spoken to people, but since the coming of his Son on earth, he speaks to us his definitive Word, Jesus. In him we see what God means and who God is.

2 Reading HEBREWS 1:1-6
Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say: You are my son; this day I have begotten you? Or again: I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me? And again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.

Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia.
A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.
For today a great light has come upon the earth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (John 1:1-18): And the Word Became Flesh
The evangelist John speaks to us of the mystery of Jesus: he is the image of the Father, his Word became a man, his light in our darkness, God living among us. Do we accept him as he is?

Gospel JOHN 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

Commentary
Behold the Mystery!
In front of the greatest Mystery of all times, words fail. Silence, wonder, tears, joy are the natural expressions. There is just one thing we can do today: Behold the Word-Made-Flesh! Stand there at the crib in your church or at home. Take in the scene: The highest expression of God’s Love. The helplessness of a baby who is God. The vulnerability of God who is the most powerful. The Master of the universe becoming a cave-man. God of the highest heavens becoming a little child in the manger. One who sits on the throne of stars now lies on straw in a stable. The one who feeds the world now lies in the feeding trough, as food for the world…. Stay before the scene in absolute silence, take it all in, and then break into a song and hug those around you. For, today, salvation has come into our lives, hallelujah! Merry Christmas.

Intercessions
God speaks to us his living Word, Jesus. Let us now speak our fumbling words to Jesus, our Lord and brother, as we say:
R/ Speak your word to us, Lord.

– Jesus, for all who speak to the People of God the liberating words of your Good News, that they themselves may be filled with it and out of this fullness proclaim it with conviction and warmth, we pray:
R/ Speak your word to us, Lord.
– Jesus, for all who hear your living Word, that they may receive it, treasure it in their hearts, and let it bear fruits of justice and love, we pray:
R/ Speak your word to us, Lord.
– Jesus, for all who do not yet know you, that the lives of many convinced Christians may open their eyes to you, the true light of the world, we pray:
R/ Speak your word to us, Lord.
– Jesus for those who speak words of bitterness and cry out their loneliness and misery, that we may speak to them comforting words of hope, we pray:
R/ Speak your word to us, Lord.
– Jesus for your body on earth, our communities, that we may live in peace with God and each other, and that we may be of one heart and soul, we pray:

R/ Speak your word to us, Lord.

Lord Jesus, you entered our world and know our needs and desires. Do not always give what we ask but what we really need and stay with us, now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts
Our loving God and Father,
you let Jesus speak his mighty word
and these gifts of bread and wine
become his flesh and blood
for the life of the world.
Let your Son also speak to us
from heart to heart,
that he may fill our empty Words
with the power of integrity and truth
and that he may change us, timid as we are,
into people of peace and courage,
who live without compromise
the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Break into shouts of joy together, for the Lord has come to save his people. We thank and praise the Father in heaven for the gift of his Son to us and to the world.

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
God will hear our stammering words if we pray to him with Jesus. R/ Our Father…

Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ,
you entered our world
as the Father’s Word of peace.
Give your people and every nation
a peace based on justice and truth.
Dispose us to offer to one another
signs of reconciliation
and to speak words of welcome and peace.
Unite us in the peace of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, God’s living Word,
the true light that shines on all people.
Happy are those who receive him,
for he makes them children of God.
R/ Lord, I am not worthy…

Prayer after Communion
Lord God, almighty Father,
you have filled us with the Word
and the body of Jesus your Son.
You have entrusted your Son to us;
may his Good News be on our lips
to tell it to one another
and may we give shape and life to it
by building up his community of justice and love.
Let us become with him
your word and your gift,
and your sign of hope to the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing
God has spoken to us here today
not in mere promises
but in the living person of his own Son.
He came as the light brightening our darkness.
How could we still be in the dark?
He has made us children of God.
Do we live as sons and daughters of God?
He came to bring light and life
to all the world.
Have we spread his light?
In the joy of Christmas,
let us not forget our task
to give him to the world.
And may God bless and keep you all:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.