Word of God, you became flesh, and came to dwell among us.
You have shared our life in all things;
you died as we all die. R/
Son of David, desired by the righteous and the prophets,
you have proclaimed the good news to the poor;
you have proclaimed the Lord’s time of favour. R/
You came to break the chains of bondage;
you went about doing good;
you have opened the way to the presence of God for all. R/
You came into the world in weakness and poverty;
you have confounded the proud with your humility;
you have drawn the weary and overburdened to you. R/
You are the Lamb of God and our Shepherd,
the Servant of God and our Lord:
you were made sin for us, our Redeemer. R/
Scripture(Jn 1:1-14)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Psalm 72:7,12,16-17
In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.
For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
May grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
May the crops flourish like Lebanon
and thrive like the grass of the field.
May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
From the Ancient Church
He took upon himself all human passions, excluding sin. That is: he hungered who gives food to all the living. He thirsted who gives the water of life to his believers. He felt weariness who is the rest of the weary. He slept who always kept Israel vigilant. He wept who wiped away every tear from all eyes ... He took on our passible body, so that he who is impassible might suffer with the passible body and he who is immortal might die with the mortal body, to free us who are guilty. (Gregory of Skevra)
Now that the highest and lowest creatures have become one, there is no longer high and low. God has even appeared on earth and our [human] nature has ascended to heaven. When God came down to us, the earth became heaven, and when the Son of our kind was raised up, heaven became earth. Then heaven and earth became one. (Abdisho bar Bahriz)
This is the grace of the Lord, and these are the Lord’s means of restoration for the sons of men. For he suffered to prepare freedom from suffering for those who suffer in him. He descended, so that he might raise us up. He experienced being conceived, so that we would love who is not generated. He went down to corruption, so that corruption might put on immortality. He became weak for us, so that we might rise with power. He descended to death, so that he might bestow on us immortality and give life to the dead. Finally, he became human, so that we who die as human beings might live again, and death should no more reign over us. (Athanasius of Alexandria)
Musical Selection(Of the Father's Love Begotten; lyrics in video)