And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us

           Many years ago a woman gave me a lovely, matted framed poster that reads Words are so powerful they should only be used to heal, to bless, to prosper. As a child this woman experienced demeaning verbal violence destroying her opportunity to grow in self-confidence and self-worth. 

          Most of us have been injured by words recklessly spoken; most of us have spoken words knowingly or unknowingly that have hurt another. Today we live in a climate that is replete with spoken meanness. These days I find myself frequently glancing up at the wall hanging, reminding myself of the import of my spoken words.

          And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God’s expression of love, his compassion for humanity became enfleshed in Jesus the Word. Jesus revealed in the Gospel, the word of God and “the way” of being for each of us in the world.

          In a message by Pope John Paul II in preparation for a world youth day that could aptly be used in a Christmas homily he stated: To receive Jesus Christ means to accept from the Father the command to live, loving Him and our brothers and sisters, showing solidarity to everyone, without distinction. It means believing that in the history of humanity even though it is marked by evil and suffering, the final word belongs to life and to love, because God came to dwell among us, so we may dwell in Him. Vatican, July 7, 1999

          Our calling is to presence Christ in wherever and whatever circumstances we are involved showing solidarity to everyone without distinction. Yes, there are situations that present tough challenges for choosing words, especially when “I feel hurt” or “I know I am right” or when “I feel misunderstood, judged, or wronged.” To go the extra mile or turn the other cheek I might never want to choose for an option. But then looking at the person of Jesus, the Word made flesh who came to heal, to bless and invited us to prosper in God’s saving grace, and we remember And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. and God came to dwell among us, so we may dwell in Him.

          Sr. Aileen Bankemper, OSB

A Christmas Hymn by Richard Wilbur

As a child I had only a rudimentary understanding of the Incarnation. The Christmas crib, the Holy Family, giving rather than getting, and the fact that so many people had so little and we should be grateful—these were part of the Christmas experience. Jesus as redeemer and savior remained on the fringe of my awareness until much later. I must have filtered out the Advent texts of Isaiah.

Richard Wilbur’s text A Christmas Hymn or A Stable Lamp is Lighted has edged out many traditional carols for me. We visit the stable at Bethlehem briefly, then move to Palm Sunday. As the Pharisees tell Jesus to make his disciples stop singing Hosanna, Jesus responds, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would cry out.” Throughout the hymn Wilbur repeats the phrase “and every stone shall cry”. These stones pave the roadway to the coming kingdom, they cry for hearts made hard by sin and for the times God’s love is refused. They cry in praises of the child “by whose descent among us the worlds are reconciled.”

In an interview Richard Wilbur remembered the challenge set to him by composer Richard Winslow. If you write a hymn and you’re serious about it, you have no business filling in with maverick notions of your own. A hymn has to be perfectly orthodox so that a congregation can belt it out with one voice. He commented that Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts had met this challenge many times, and we who sing their texts know this well.

It is a gift to be able to encompass in one hymn Jesus’ coming among us, his life, death and resurrection. After I learned this hymn years ago, I began to notice the text of other Christmas hymns and carols. Some are fixed on the nativity scene, as in a tableau. Others engage us in the wholeness of the mystery.

Sr. Christa Kreinbrink, OSB

To listen to A Stable Lamp is Lighted click here.