Homily: Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas (John 1:1-18) “Wisdom in the Flesh”
“For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior carrying the sharp sword of your authentic command, and stood and filled all things with death, and touched the heaven while standing on the earth.”
The words above sound like a Christmas reading from the New Testament, but really these are words from the Old Testament. They come from the Book of Wisdom (18:14-16). Could the writer of the Gospel of John have had these words in the back of his head when he composed the prologue from his Gospel?
Wisdom has a persona all to itself in the Old Testament. The implication is that wisdom is timeless as is everything else about God. We can respect knowledge and really try to gain as much knowledge as we can in our life. We can read books. We can do courses of study. We might collect academic degrees. All that is most admirable, but that is not necessarily how we gain Wisdom.
Wisdom comes from studying the things of God. We might find it by studying the first Bible. By that I mean reflecting on God’s creation. A meditative walk outdoors in the woods can yield many insights into the truths of life, death and rebirth. We can see the cycle of life. We might marvel at the intricacies of creation.
Another source of Wisdom is prayer. A thoughtful reading of scripture can lead to many insights about life and how we can live it. We notice that prayerful people are usually very deep people. The type of prayer of which I speak is not rattling off prayers, but it is a contemplative approach to prayer which involves listening long and hard to God.
Jesus is said to be the word made flesh. When he speaks, we are receiving pure wisdom, but we must take time to let his words ruminate in our consciousness. When we gain insights that are priceless. Jesus did leap down from heaven and his presence in our world and we touch heaven when we draw close to him.
Reflection Questions:
- What does the phrase word made flesh mean to me? Do I think of Jesus in those terms?
- How do I gain wisdom? What do I do with what I learn?
Dear Parishioners,
Tonight, begins the New Year. Whenever we start a new year there is a lot of self-examination. Where has our life been and where is it going?
We can look at this in terms of our parish. Where has Sacred Heart been and where is it going? We will face another challenging year in 2022. The biggest hurdle we will have will be keeping our community connected.
People have often thanked me for keeping the parish together these last months, but some days I wonder how well it’s going. On other days I see the Holy Spirit at work pulling people back towards church. It is easy to be disheartened with so many sick and dying and in crisis, but we probably must take the long view. Sacred Heart has been through World Wars, depressions, social upheaval, the sexual abuse scandal and host of other events that would seem to be crippling blows. Yet here we are marching ahead.
Jesus is still in our midst. All we can do is keep him at the center of what we do. That is what we can control. Everything else is in the hands of God.
My Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark