In the Beginning

In this Christmas Season we read the prelude to the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word.” This reminds us of the first line in Genesis: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and earth.” The Incarnation, in effect, began with creation. The whole purpose of creation was to let God share and unite beyond the Godself. Creation was God’s means to have more to love.

And that Word of God from the beginning became incarnate. Billions of years before the Bethlehem census, salvation began–from the very first moment, from the Almighty’s command “Let there be light.” Creation has always groaned from that moment on.  Paul states in Romans 8:22, “Yes, we know that all creation groans and is in agony even until now.” The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, was not the only one experiencing pangs of birth in the story of redemption. She was united with the whole universe in its act of creation, which is an act of redemptive groaning. The Christ we are awaiting is part of the creation story, still straining and groaning toward its completion. We are still in Advent waiting for the Universal Christ.