Isaiah 61:10--62:3. Psalm 147, Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7, John 1:1-18

In "the fullness of time", when the world, all creation even, was ready, God came among us, incarnate in Jesus, the Word of God, the Light of God, "the Wisdom of God" (1 Cor.1:24), the Son of God. The Holy One waits until we are ready, open to accept the Word and live into it, until we are prepared to receive the Light of God into the darkness of our lives and, with "enkindled hearts", reflect that light to others.

In reflecting on the fullness of time, I am reminded of a line from a poem I read years ago by Edgar A. Guest, "It takes a heap of livin' to make a house a home." The message continues to ring true. It does take "a heap of livin' " to get us ready and open, prepared to accept and receive the Beloved into our hearts. For so long, we tend to think it is all up to us, and we do our best, such as it is. But one day, in "the fullness of time" we realize our best is not enough. We can't do it, fix it, change it. We are not in control anymore. We are powerless, and once we surrender and accept our dependency on God, we discover the Holy Spirit crying from our hearts, "Abba! Father!" and we are on the way home at last.

May the 12 days of this Christmas season be "the fullness of time" for you, when you experience the Light of Christ being birthed in you, enkindling your heart so that Light may shine forth in your life day by day, and that you may know: "How good it is to sing praises to our God! How pleasant it is to honor him with praise!" in all the days to come.