Light in the Darkness
Center Image: Christ Divine Mercy; Creative Commons (CC0); additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent
Prologue to the Gospel of John 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 the world. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light that gives light to everyone 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. 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.
St. John’s Prologue contains the essence of Christian faith and cosmology: the story of our creation and Christ’s mission for our salvation. A lifetime of searching and reflection will never exhaust its beauty and mystery.
The central themes of the Gospel are given: life, light, truth, the world, and the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Logos who reveals God the Father. (1) The Creator of the cosmos entered into our human world; He pitched His tent among us that we might participate fully in His nature. (2)
This is the source of Christian faith, and its astonishing wonder. Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness … He humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. (3)
When I look up at your heavens
that have been formed by your fingers,
the moon and the stars
that you set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
(4)
With You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light itself.
Psalm 36:9
Prologue to John’s Gospel. Artwork by Juliette Pierce.
References:
(1) United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(2) Bishop Barron: Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcmGmao-TJA
(3) Phil: 2:6-11 NCB
(4) Psalm 8:4-5
Images:
Image: NASA Hubble Telescope; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.
Image: NASA Hubble Telescope; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.