THE SYNTHESIS OF THE PARADOX

You are the dawning,
from whom early morning came forth.

R. M. Rilke

Eternity and temporality, in the Christian vision, came together in the Christ event. It is eternity that entered time, thanks to the Son of God, who became flesh; he did not eliminate it, but he gave it a new meaning, thus leading every man to the full realization of himself in participation in the Infinite. And it is precisely because of this intersection between eternity and time that the kronos, as factuality and quantitative time, became kairos, qualitative time, continually visited, as it is, by the one who is the Coming One and the Emmanuel. With the Incarnation, the Greek cyclicity was broken and a new history was inaugurated, within which God calls for free and responsible collaboration.  Hence the beauty of feeling like a partner of a God who is a companion on the journey towards the Kingdom. But there is more. The Incarnation is completed in the resurrection. In it, time is immersed in the eternal; that eternal that has redeemed human history from every threat of nihilism and death. And so the fragile human “fallenness” has found meaning and direction. Karl Rahner wrote: “An event has burst into the world and into life, an event that has changed everything we call “world”, and our life. By its own power, it has given a purpose and an end to everything and has put an end to the “nothing new under the sun” of ancient Ecclesiastes and to the greyness of the eternal return proclaimed by the modern philosopher.” Man is placed between finite and infinite, between temporality and eternity, between historical realism and the irrepressible aspiration of the definitive. Celebrating the incarnation means being faithful to the flesh, that is, to human existence as it is often dramatically offered, and keeping our gaze fixed on the fulfilment. The solemn Johannine prologue that we will hear proclaimed today in our assemblies highlights the great reversal that occurred with the Incarnation of the Son of God (Logos). For Jewish culture, the Word of God was immutable and eternal, while man is fragile and inconsistent. Between the Word and man there was therefore an abyss. But now, that abyss has been overcome, because the Word has become flesh, as we have said. Not only that. John affirms that the glory of God is contemplated only in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth, so that the human is no longer a shell to be passed through and then left behind, to seek glory. Last but not least, those who welcome Christ receive the ability (exousia) to become children of God (Jn 1:12).

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey