John 1:1-18
The Light Shines- MERRY CHRISTMAS!
In just a few words this Gospel passage tells us what God gave us for Christmas. “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” There can never be a better gift given. 
And this exchange of gifts, as described by St Augustine—“God became man, so that man might become God.”
Each time we go to the Eucharist we continue participating in this exchanging of gifts with God. When the presiding priest pours a little water into the wine, he prays: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity”. We offer up at each celebration bread and wine as an offering, and we then in return receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. This is why we, as Christians, should “remember the dignity that 
Christmas gives you.” [Pope St Leo]. Christmas, the Incarnation, gives us the best of both worlds! “God became man so that man might become God.”
Christmas takes place just a few days after the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year [making it the longest night of the year]. But on that day of the solstice, the balance of significance begins to shift. Each day will be met with a longer period of light shining, and the night therefore doesn’t last as long. It is the heavens’ way of reminding us, a found in John’s Gospel, that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it.” Christmas IS the birth of He who will call Himself the Light of the World.
Let the light continue to shine in the darkness. Let us rejoice in the coming of our Lord and Savior. Give thanks to God for this great exchange of gifts. The Lord of the angels became man today so that man could eat the break of angels!
included. There might be many things happening in your life, and it might pass you by, or you might fail to see the importance, but this Canticle of Zachary, is a great hymn of gratitude to God. It allows us to discover the spirit around us, and it welcomes the new day-one fill with Love and Compassion of God’s unending Love.
enemies. This litany leads to a great celebration of those last of the great prophets who “will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” Zachary’s canticle radiates the new order the high priest’s own son; he will bridge the old and the new. He will become the mouthpiece announcing the coming of the Messiah who is to come.
Elizabeth, as they were well beyond their child bearing years, and yet they had been blessed with a baby. Not only were they now blessed with this gift of new life, they were also greeted with the notion that this young baby boy—John—would be someone with an important vocation, “For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” This was reaffirmed as Zachary had been struck “dumb”, but when he finally was able to speak, he spoke of the blessing that God had given to them. God had truly been so good to them, and it was all such a welcomed and joyous gift. They could not have known that the greatest gift of all was soon to be given. The gift of the Father’s Son, Jesus Christ, would soon be upon them and the whole world. He would soon come to begin His mission of salvation.
Sometimes the words of “gratitude” and “thankfulness” are not easily found in our own vocabulary. We often hear people refer to the act of “giving thanks to”, but never do we hear giving thanks because. We forget that at times we fail to be thankful for what God has granted us. When we see others that need more than we—we should not grumble but rather give thanks. When we are interrupted because someone calls, or comes to see us—we should not become irritated, but rather to welcome it as a visit or call from Christ. The Gospels tach us to have gratitude, to come to understand that all we have is a gift from God, and that we should always remain truly grateful for these gifts.
Dr. Lawrence V. McCrobie 
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