The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Rejoice! Joy rings out in the words of today’s psalm, “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound;let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!” as our celebration of Christmas continues.
It might seem tempting to let go of this joy as the decorations come down, Christmas music ceases to play on the radio, and “holiday shopping” ceases. Many have moved on to post-holiday diets and bearing down for the coming harsh winter months. Joy endures not because there are still sales to be had – this is the answer of Verizon Wireless to the emblematic joy-sapped man in their commercial, “Don’t worry, there are still phones on sale!” Christians are joyous because we know that, in the words of the psalm, “The LORD comes, he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.” God’s faithfulness is unfailing. God is constant.
We have a God who loves us so much that He humbled Himself to become one of us. But that was not all. As St. John illustrates in the prologue to his gospel that we hear today, the Word was with God “in the beginning” (Jn 1:1), a clear echo of the opening of the book of Genesis and the account of creation. The Word becoming flesh in Jesus is a new creation for us, but one that nevertheless has its origins at the very beginning.
Let us continue our songs of joy, for the Christmas season continues!!!
- Tim Gabrielli