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Dear St. Augustine's 'ohana,
In the busyness of the season, we might forget where we left off with our Christmas story. On Christmas day, we were with Mary, who listened to all that the shepherds had relayed about the angel’s “good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
She treasured these words and pondered them in her heart. We ponder these words, as well.
As Mary pondered, she was living it moment by moment. As we ponder, we see the story unfold through a two-thousand-year-old lens. Through the Gospel of John, we gain a mystical understanding of Christ as a light in the world that overpowers darkness. With a sweepingly poetic tone, this gospel presents a timeless and mind-bending characterization of Christ: Christ as “the Word.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people… the Word became flesh and lived among us… grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
The opening verses of John lay the groundwork for the rest of this gospel in which Jesus shows us how to embody love.
This is the profound gift of Christmas: Jesus is born to reconcile us with God’s love. But here’s the thing about gifts: gifts blossom only if we put them to use.
As we ponder Christ’s gift of hope and promise, how do we hold his gift in our hearts? How do we transform what’s in our hearts into action?
As this week's gospel might suggest, one way to work with Christ's gift might be through words. Connecting with God through our innermost self, we begin to translate our soul’s longings into language, allowing the Word to speak through us. It’s a practice that becomes easier the more we do it.
Through prayer, we listen to God’s calming voice, whose messages of love we can share. With people in our community, we can create hope rooted in embodying God’s love here on earth.
Through Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, we can work together to transform the darkness into light with the vulnerability and power of love. May our practices of praying, sharing, and creating bring us ever closer to love in action!
Christmas blessings,
Vicar Jennifer
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