Vatican City, Jan 4, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Before praying the Angelus Sunday morning before thousands of pilgrims gathered at St. Peter's Square, John Paul II recalled that on the first Sunday of the New Year “the liturgy proposes once again to our meditation the wonderful page of the Prologue of the Gospel of John.”
While the feast of the Epiphany was celebrated on Sunday in most of the Catholic Church around the world, the Pope recalled the Gospel of the Second Sunday of the Christmas season, which is taken from the famous prologue of St. John.
The Vatican, Italy, Spain and Mexico are some of the countries in which the Epiphany was not celebrated on Sunday and will celebrate it on its original date, tomorrow, January 6.
The Holy Father said that upon affirming that the “Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” St. John “emphatically confirms the reality of the Incarnation.”
“He uses,” the Pontiff continued, “two seemingly incompatible words: ‘word’ and ‘flesh’.”
“Yes! Jesus is true God and true man. He is the only Son of God that John and the other apostles have ‘seen, heard, and touched.’ In His humanity, He lives the fullness of divinity,” he added.
“Guided by the evangelist John,” the Pope concluded, “let us get closer to the mystery of the Child of Bethlehem in whom God fully revealed His face. Let us be silent with Our Lady before the eternal Word that for us is a little baby. He gives the ‘ability to become children of God’ to all those who believe in His name. And this is the mystery and gift of Christmas!”.