The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

These days of Christmas are given to us so that we might meditate upon the mystery of the Incarnation. The Incarnation is a joyful mystery, but it is also a luminous mystery – full of light. Light is a very important theme in the scriptures, and of all our senses, we rely to a great extent upon our eyes. Light is what makes the things around us visible, and when we see things, we begin to know them and understand them. The theme of light in the first reading is an invitation to consider a light that is not physical – not the sun, not the flame of candle or fire. We are to consider a spiritual light. What is spiritual light? It is something that makes us know and understand in a deeper way – it causes us to know and understand what we cannot see and know by our eyes. Light for the mind makes us understand reality more completely, we call that light, truth. When you know the truth, your whole mind is full of light: everything else you have known becomes clearer, and things you may not have understood become apparent.

St. John teaches us in his letter that the ultimate truth about God is that He is Love. That truth, and the clarity it provides for our life, can only enlighten our minds if it also inspires our heart and our actions. The truth about God can only be known and understood if love directs our attitude towards our neighbor. Jesus says, “I am the Truth,” and so the light He gives to our minds, by our faithfully adhering to Him, is the radical nature and call of love, “No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends.” Symeon sees this truth in the flesh of the infant God placed in his arms. The Word has given all, has poured out His life into mortal flesh, to release us from the darkness of error, of wandering, of lovelessness. “Now Master, you release your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen the truth, my eyes have seen the love, my eyes have seen your salvation.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is also given a deeper truth to live by. Her heart, now pierced by the prophet’s word, the Word of God, the Word he cradles in his arms, is as though opened to the light of a more brilliant truth, a more profound love, only opened by the wound and suffering of her compassion.

HILARY OF ARLES:

There are three ways that we dwell in God—by faith, by hope and by love. God dwells in us by patience and humility.¹

HILARY OF ARLES:

The person who hates is in darkness until he repents or until he discovers love.²

BEDE:

The person who loves his brother puts up with everything for the sake of unity. Such an attitude keeps us from hurting anyone unduly.³

CAESARIUS OF ARLES:

If a man hates his brother, he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going. In his ignorance he goes down to hell, and in his blindness he is thrown headlong into punishment, because he withdraws from the light of Christ.⁴

AMBROSE:

“And a sword will pierce through your own soul.” Neither Scripture nor history tells us that Mary departed this life by a violent death. For it is not the soul but the body that can be pierced by a material sword. This, therefore, proves that Mary was not unaware of the heavenly mystery: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” God’s Word exposes the thoughts and intents of the heart, because all things are open and naked to the eyes of Mary’s Son, to whom the secrets of our conscience are visible.⁵

Footnotes

INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN. Bray, G., ed. (2000). James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (p. 179). InterVarsity Press.
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN. Bray, G., ed. (2000). James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (p. 181). InterVarsity Press.
ON 1 JOHN.Bray, G., ed. (2000). James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (p. 181). InterVarsity Press.
SERMONS 90.6. Bray, G., ed. (2000). James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (p. 181). InterVarsity Press.
EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.61. Just, A. A., ed. (2005). Luke (p. 51). InterVarsity Press.

Daily Readings

Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
by USCCB on November 20, 2024 at 9:30 am
Reading 1 Rv 4:1-11 I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,and I heard the trumpetlike voicethat had spoken to me before, saying,“Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.”At once I was caught up in spirit.A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat onewhose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other throneson which twenty-four elders sat,dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.From the throne came flashes of lightning,rumblings, and peals of thunder.Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne,which are the seven spirits of God.In front of the throne was something that resembleda sea of glass like crystal.In the center and around the throne,there were four living creaturescovered with eyes in front and in back.The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf,the third had a face like that of a man,and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.The four living creatures, each of them with six wings,were covered with eyes inside and out.Day and night they do not stop exclaiming:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,who was, and who is, and who is to come.”Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksto the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,the twenty-four elders fall downbefore the one who sits on the throneand worship him, who lives forever and ever.They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:“Worthy are you, Lord our God,to receive glory and honor and power,for you created all things;because of your will they came to be and were created.” Responsorial Psalm 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 R. (1b) Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!Praise the LORD in his sanctuary,praise him in the firmament of his strength.Praise him for his mighty deeds,praise him for his sovereign majesty.R. Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!Praise him with the blast of the trumpet,praise him with lyre and harp,Praise him with timbrel and dance,praise him with strings and pipe.R. Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!Praise him with sounding cymbals,praise him with clanging cymbals.Let everything that has breathpraise the LORD! Alleluia.R. Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God! Alleluia See Jn 15:16 R. Alleluia, alleluia. I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 19:11-28 While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and reported, ‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too he said, ‘You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.’” After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. - - - Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

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