• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Laudato Si’
    • Making Room: Lent Reflection Series
    • Celebrating the Season of Creation
    • Passion of the Earth, Wisdom of the Cross
    • Ways to Live Laudato Siˊ
    • Small Grants to Implement Laudato Siˊ
    • Statement on Texas Elementary School Tragedy
  • Pray
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Video: Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • The Passionist Way
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Magazine
    • Proclaiming Our Passionist Story (POPS)
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Haiti
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Ways to Live Laudato Siˊ
    • Vision Fulfillment Newsletters
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Vocation Resources
    • Father Phillip Donlan, CP, Ordination
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Passionist Brothers
    • The Life of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • World Day for Consecrated Life
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
      • St. Gemma Circle of Giving Intentions
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Proclaiming Our Passionist Story (POPS)
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

Daily Scripture, December 25, 2017

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Purchased with the W. P. Wilstach Fund, 1899 Accession Number W1899-1-1
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Purchased with the W. P. Wilstach Fund, 1899 Accession Number W1899-1-1

Scripture:

Isaiah 52:7-10
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18

Reflection:

My favorite image of the Annunciation is not one of those Renaissance canvases… where the Archangel Gabriel’s fluffy white wings envelop the Blessed Virgin as she gazes to the heavens. Rather, it’s a painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mary, sitting on the bed, glances with fear and wonder at a shaft of light; the bedclothes are wrinkled and disheveled, perhaps mirroring the doubt and confusion, the mystery, and her earthshaking “YES” to the messenger’s request.

Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI, reminds us that Incarnation is a present reality, not past tense. God’s Light wants to pierce our darkness THIS Christmas. Today. Now. Here.

Though somewhat controversial historically, icons have long been a devotional, liturgical and didactic help for the Christian community. But icons are not merely decorations in church, nor pious reminders of sacred history; no, they fulfill a kind of sacramental function. The viewer is not passive. In pondering the artwork, the observer experiences the icon as a kind of portal to heaven, leading us closer to Christ, Mary, and the saints.

This year, perhaps because of the pervasive darkness in violence and crime, politics and government, I am drawn to the light. I am enjoying Christmas correspondence more than ever, especially when parents include photographs of their children with their Yuletide greetings! I gaze at them as icons of the Mystical Body of Christ, expanding my universe with the Incarnation of God’s love again. Today. Here. Now.


Fr. Jack Conley, C.P. is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Footer

Facebook Feed

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2023 | Log in