Wednesday December 27, 2023

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“Christmas is a new birth of Jesus in our hearts so that God can joyfully fellowship with us.”

Good News Reflection for:

Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist
December 27, 2023

Today’s Prayer:

Lord, You speak to me clearly day after day. I ask You for the grace to boldly share with my brothers and sisters the wonders You do for me. Amen.

Subscribe to Today’s Saint Quote & Prayer:
gnm.org/SaintQuotes/

Today’s Readings:

1 John 1:1-4
Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12
John 20:1a, 2-8
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122723.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-december-27-2023

Alive in the fellowship of the Lord

Let’s use today’s first reading as a Christmas meditation.

What have you “seen and heard” from God this Christmas?

How has Christ’s life become visible to you?

How has this Christmas been a time of experiencing fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ?

No matter what went wrong this Christmas — what went imperfectly, what was frustrating, what tested your faith or your strength of character, what was lonely or dissatisfying — you were in fellowship with the Christ child and his heavenly Daddy.

Whatever happened that was good and right and a source of joy, this too occurred in the fellowship of God’s wonderful company.

Can you see the good news in your experience of such a holy fellowship? Can you hear the presence of God?

Today’s responsorial psalm beckons us to rejoice in the Lord. It says that “the mountains melt like wax before the Lord.” Whatever mountain of difficulty you witnessed this Christmas (or whenever problems seem insurmountable), it’s really nothing (zilch, zero, nada) compared to the greatness of the Lord! Give him time, let him finish working the plan he’s doing, and you will witness those mountains melting. Guaranteed! It’s a sacred promise!

Christmas is the season of hope, peace, and good will toward all; therefore we expect the ideal but are disappointed by the real. We want Christmas to be better than the rest of the year. However, Christmas is much more than a holiday that happens in the outside circumstances. It’s a new birth of Jesus in our hearts so that God, who loves us immeasurably, can joyfully fellowship with us and extend his friendship out to others through us.

That is the only true source of peace and good will. That is what is really real. The mountains/problems are not real; they are only temporary. The higher reality is God’s eternal fellowship with us.

This is why Mary Magdalene and the other disciples got so excited over the empty tomb (today’s Gospel reading). Others who saw the empty tomb or heard about the resurrection had an opposite reaction. The only ones who were happy about it were those who had let their fellowship with Christ penetrate into an interior relationship of mutual love.

And that, my friends, is the good news of Christ’s life becoming visible. And it needs to be proclaimed! As St. John said, our joy is made complete by sharing the good news with others.

If we merely reflect on the good news privately, our spirits are lifted for a moment. But if we seek someone who will listen as we vocalize our experiences of fellowshipping with the Lord, we birth Jesus more fully into the world.

By sharing the good news, we multiply the good news. We are blessed. Others are blessed. God is blessed.

For more on the topic of this subject, see our course: “The Apostolate of the Laity in the Church Crisis” @ https://gnm-media.org/apostolate-of-the-laity-part-1/.

© 2023 by Terry A. Modica

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