Christ – Some Thoughts – 1
Dear Friends,
From all eternity, God thinks a thought about himself.
We might call this God’s self-reflection.
Or, from all eternity God speaks a word about himself.
We might call this God’s self-statement.
This word that God thinks or speaks is so full of God, God’s presence or God’s life that it is also a person.
This is the Word of God (in Greek, this is called the Logos).
This Word has always been and always will be – with God, with the Father or Parent.
And this Word is God’s plan, pattern or blueprint for all else that is.
All that has been, is, and will be, comes to be through the Word.
This means that God is present in all that is because all that is has come to be only through God, the Word.
We usually refer to the Word of God as Christ.
And we see the Word becoming flesh in the person of Jesus who is the Christ of God – Christ meaning “the Anointed One.”
In my prayer during this Christmas season, I have been meditating on the first verses of the Gospel of John.
The above is my attempt to put some of these profound verses of Scripture and profound statements of faith into my own words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:1-5)
“Unto to us a child is born.” Alleluia.
Father Michael Schleupner
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Christ – Some Thoughts – 2
Dear Friends,
“God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” (I John 1:5)
“Jesus spoke to them again, saying ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
So, God is light.
The Word of God made flesh, the Christ incarnate in Jesus, is light.
This is why, in the Nicene Creed, we profess our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.”
Jesus speaks of our having the “light of life” through him.
John says, “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race.”
So, light and life go together.
In the world of nature, we cannot have life without light.
Where there is light, there is at least the possibility for life.
In the supernatural or spiritual world, much the same is true.
The light of Christ brings us life.
It looks as if we can also say it the other way around.
The life of Christ brings us light or brings light alive in us.
These are some more thoughts from my meditation during the Christmas Season on the first verses of John’s Gospel.
See also my Inbox Inspirations from last week, January 8, and for the next two weeks, January 22 and 29.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:1-5)
“Unto to us a child is born.” Alleluia.
Father Michael Schleupner
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Christ – Some Thoughts – 3
Dear Friends,
When I turn on a lamp in my study, I seldom if ever look directly at the lightbulb.
Instead, I look at the book or other material that I want to read.
When I turn on an overhead light in a dark hallway, again, I hardly ever look at the light fixture.
Instead, I look at where I am going and am able to walk safely.
God as the light or Jesus as the light is there for us in much the same way.
It is not that we so much see or look at the light itself.
Instead, God or Jesus as light enables us to see what God wants us to see.
So, Jesus as the light enables us to see God or himself as he is.
This light gives us an accurate image of God that we could not have by ourselves.
Jesus as the light also helps us to see ourselves – with our strengths and our weaknesses.
And he helps us to see the way – how we are to live and what we are to do and not do.
This is what Saint John means when he speaks of Jesus the Christ as “the light of the human race.”
Christ is light and gives light for all who have come to be through him, and that means for everyone.
These are some more thoughts from my meditation during the Christmas Season on the first verses of John’s Gospel.
See also my Inbox Inspirations from January 8 and 15 and for next week, January 29.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:1-5)
“Unto to us a child is born.”Alleluia.
Father Michael Schleupner
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Christ – Some Thoughts – 4
Dear Friends,
“The light shines in the darkness.”
Sometimes we find ourselves in dark nights of the soul that just happen.
Sickness, grief over the loss of a loved one, depression, feeling empty, feeling no closeness to God – these are examples of dark nights of the soul.
Darkness can also refer to dark sides, maybe sinfulness in ourselves.
And then there is the darkness or sinfulness that we may see outside ourselves, in other persons or in our culture.
In all of these forms of darkness, Saint John assures us that “The light shines.”
So, we are always to look for a glimpse of the light.
The light that is Christ can lead us through our dark nights of the soul.
The light that is Christ is still with us to lead us beyond our personal sinfulness.
And the light that is Christ is still with another person or with our culture in the same way that it is with us.
With ourselves or with others or with culture, we need to allow the light that is Christ shine brighter and brighter.
We need to live with that trust and hope.
Giving up on ourselves or judging others as all darkness has no place with the One who “shines in the darkness.”
These are the concluding thoughts from my meditation during the Christmas Season on the first verses of John’s Gospel.
See also my Inbox Inspirations from January 8, 15 and 22.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:1-5)
“Unto to us a child is born.” Alleluia.
Father Michael Schleupner
