In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how Jesus becoming human – the incarnation – means that every human body is sacred and special.
Readings for 7th day within the octave of Christmas (31 December): 1 John 2:18-21; Psalm 96: 1-2, 11-13; John 1:1-18. Text of readings can be found here.
What do you think of your body? Do you like it, or find it embarrassing? Are you happy with the way it looks, or do you wish it was a different size or shape? Does it give you aches and pains more than you would wish? Are there bits that don’t work quite as well as they should? It’s a weird thing, the human body. It can be the object of desire, or self-loathing. We are presented with idealised images of the human body by the media, and people spend hours in the gym trying to obtain the perfect body. It’s precious, it’s fragile, it’s fallible and frustrating, but it’s the only one we’ve got, and it’s the means by which we live our life in this world.
The idea of a human body is at the heart of our Gospel reading today from John 1, which is the Christmas Gospel. John refers to the Word, existing from the beginning of time with God, and taking part in creation. This Word we have come to think of as the Son of God. The reading culminates with the claim that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. In other words, God’s Son inhabited a body just like ours, a thing of great wonder and beauty, but also prone to illness and disease, aches and pains. And a body, of course, that was cruelly mistreated, beaten and scarred, and finally broken on the Cross.
The fact that Jesus took on a human body like ours shows that God considered it a fitting dwelling place for God’s self on earth. This means that every single human body, no matter its size or shape, or what injuries or ailments it may have, is special and sacred. This is a challenge to our world, where so often human bodies are regarded as dispensable. But it also serves as a message of hope for each of us. Despite the lumps and bumps and the aches and pains, we all carry the imprint of the divine. Let us remember that when we are deciding how to treat a fellow child of God, but also when we look in the mirror.
Mass today is in St Paul’s at 10am and St Mary’s at 11am.
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