The glory as of the Father’s only Son

25 DICEMBRE (Jn 1,1-18)

The Prologue with which the Evangelist John begins his Gospel is the primary principle for the exegesis, hermeneutics, understanding, intelligence and wisdom of the whole revelation of the Old and New Testament. Without this principle the Psalms become unreadable. They are deprived of the truth of essence and eternal substance.

Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’” Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2,1-12).

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations,He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head. (Psalm 110 (109) 1-7).

The Word is eternal, the Word is God, and the Word was with God, the Word is made flesh, the Word gives grace and truth, the Word is the Only Son of the Father, the Word is in the bosom of the Father. The Word is an eternal person. The eternal Person of the Word is the Son of the Father. The Word is the true light that comes to enlighten every man. The Word is the life of the world.

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.

Even St. Paul needs the Prologue of John as a principle of true, perfect, holy and eternal interpretation of his Christology. Today, we live in the Church as if this prologue had never been written, never existed. We live in such a confusion on Jesus Christ, as to even have lost his truth, uniqueness, singularity, specificity in his role of mediation between God and humanity. The loss of the truth of Jesus Christ becomes instantly loss of the very truth of God and man. It becomes also loss of the truth of the Church. The Church is the sacrament of Christ, not of God. Without the truth of Christ she is without the truth of herself. The falsity of Christ becomes instantly falsity of God, of humanity, of the Church, of the Christian and of the entire universe. This falsehood instantly turns into poverty of no salvation.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us, today, the truth of Christ.