The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas, 2018

As we conclude another year, the gospel for today is one with a message of hope: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth.” We have recently celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, an event that changed the course of human history. How did this poor Child, born to an obscure couple in difficult circumstances change the world? He brought us grace and truth.

Truth is often questioned in our contemporary world. Some think that a claim to truth is an assertion of dominance aimed at the exclusion of others. Jesus had a radically different message, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32). For the Israelites, this was a debatable point. They knew that God’s revelation of his very name and identity was a mark of love, but the law of Moses, first understood as a gift, came to be perceived by some as a burden. The law was a gift, but a further gift was needed: the power to live it and the mercy to heal us when we fail.

This points to the utter transformation of our world by the coming of Christ: “Because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Grace, God’s life in us, is the gift Christ offers to all who seek. By grace we can be healed and strengthened, so we are free to make our New Year’s resolutions, to try to walk in love, to dare to begin again and again. We are free to hope because the Word was made flesh, full of grace and truth, and this grace is ours for the asking.