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December 25, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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Is 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14 Trinity Episcopal Church
Christmas Day - Year C – December 25, 2009 The Rev. Linda Spiers
Theologians through the centuries have had remarkable words to say about John’s Prologue—these first few passages we hear in John’s Gospel.
Rupert of Deutz who lived in the 11th to 12th centuries said, “Of old, God wrote a book by which in many words one Word has uttered. Today he has opened a book for us in which by one word many words are said. This is the book which has for its pages and for writing the word of the Father. The greatest of all books is the incarnate Son, because just as through writing words are joined to a page, so by assuming a human nature the Word of God is joined to flesh.”
Bonaventure who lived in the 13th century said, “Every creature is a divine word because it proclaims God.”
15th century Nicholas of Cusa wrote, “You [Jesus Christ] are the Word of God humanified, and you are humanity deified.”
We move from Christmas Eve having a story of Christ’s birth in a very concrete and understandable way to now hearing John’s Gospel that gives meaning to the story. In a sense it let’s us “settle in” with Christ’s birth and look for the meaning in the words and in the Word. John’s writer invites us to ponder this gift of all time in our hearts with poetic verse—to ponder the Word with words that flow beautifully and yet puzzle.
We’re reminded that this Christ child had a history and that he brought light into the darkness of lives those 2000+ years ago. We continue to need that light in the darkness of the world in which we live—not only the shadows that overwhelm us as individuals but also the immense shadows that cause us to wonder where God is. Darkness can be terrifying, and then light bursts in and somehow soothes or opens us up to some understanding. The light of Christ burst into darkness and continues to burst into our lives. About this life that is light 4th century Gregory of Nazianzus says, “[the life that is light] is chased by the darkness, but is not overtaken by it.”
That is hope in the form of light that this Word made flesh brings as gift to us this day. It’s not just the sentimentality of nativity scenes and carols ringing out as shoppers frantically look for their gifts and the scurry of going from Christmas party to Christmas party. The Light is hope in our lives—“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
On Christmas Day this gift of light and hope invites us to join these theologians throughout time to ponder what the gift means to us. What words would you offer as to the meaning of the Word? It’s a gift we receive every year—a gift that “keeps on giving” to quote the secular world. So, I invite you to ponder as you go through the day the hope that springs forth from this precious Word.
Let us pray with the words of 4th century Ephrem of Syria:
“My Lord, on this, Your day, that is near to us,
we have seen Your birth, that distant one.
Lord, let Your day be like You for us.
Let it be a means and a pledge of peace.
It is Your day that reconciled heaven and earth,
for on it the Heavenly One descends to the earthly ones.
…My Lord, Your day is great; let it not be diminished by us.
Let it have mercy on our follies, as is its custom.
And, my Lord, if every day pours forth Your forgiveness,
How much more will it increase on this day!
All of the days acquire glorious things
from the treasury of Your glorious day.
….In the winter that robs the branches of fruit,
the fruit sprang forth for us from the barren vine.
In the frost that stripped all the trees
a Shoot budded for us from the house of Jesse.” Amen.
Rupert of Deutz, trans Geoffrey Preston in Geoffrey Preston, O.P., Hallowing the Time: Meditations on the Cycle of the Christian Liturgy, (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1980), 54.
Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 39, in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Father, Second Series, vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 685.
Ephrem the Syrian, from Hymn 4 on the Nativity, in Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns, trans. And introduction by Kathleen E. McVey, (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1989), 90-91.
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December 24, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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December 13, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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December 6, 2009 - Rowena Kemp
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November 29, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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November 22, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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November 15, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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November 8, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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November 1, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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October 25, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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October 18, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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October 11, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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October 4, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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September 27, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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September 20, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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September 13, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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September 6, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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August 30, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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August 23, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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August 16, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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August 2, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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July 26, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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July 19, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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July 12, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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July 5, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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June 14, 2009 - Annie Rhea
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May 24, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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May 3, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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April 26, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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April 19, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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April 12, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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March 29, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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March 8, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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February 22, 2009 - The Rev. Dr. Borden Painter
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February 15, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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February 8, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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February 1, 2009 - The Rev. Douglas Engwall, Deacon
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January 31, 2009 - Burial Rebecca McGill-The Rev. Linda Spiers
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January 29, 2009 - Burial Ruth Gallucci - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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January 27, 2009 - Burial Glen Morgan - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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January 18, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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January 11, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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January 4, 2009 - The Rev. Linda Spiers
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