THE INCARNATED WORD

You dawning,
from which the early morning came forth.

R. M. Rilke

On this second Sunday after Christmas our attention is focused on the Johannine Prologue. This solemn song is crossed by a movement. First of all, John states that the Logos/the Word was: «with God» and «was God» (v. 1). In Greek, the verb is in the imperfect to express a past action that continues in the present. But the verb was (ēn) is then followed by the verb to become (egheneto) culminating in the solemn affirmation that the Logos became flesh (v. 14). From the pre-existent Logos we then move on to the incarnate Logos, that is, to the Logos who took on the face of a man in Jesus of Nazareth. What did this incarnation of the Logos entail? An overturning. For Jewish culture, the Word of God is immutable and eternal, while man is fragile and inconsistent. Between the Word and man there is therefore an abyss. But now the abyss is overcome, because the Word became 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 the human is not a shell to be passed through and then left to reach glory. This fact of faith is not without consequences for us. In fact, to those who welcome him, the fourth Gospel always affirms, he has given the ability (exousia) to become children of God (v. 12). But what does it mean to be children? Simple: it means to affirm that at the beginning of our life there is a bond and that this bond is marked by love. If it is true that in this bond I am generated in my filial identity, it is equally true that always from this bond I discover my neighbor as brother and sister. Not only that, but if the relationship with the Father is characterized by obedience, the relationship with the brother will be characterized by solidarity. This is the profound meaning of Christmas: the joy of being children and brothers, the joy of an embrace that reconciles Heaven and earth. And this is thanks to Jesus. The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard rightly wrote: “The two worlds that have always been separate, the divine and the human, have collided in the son of Mary. A collision that is not an explosion but an embrace.”

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

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey