What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life. St. John the Evangelist has been associated with Christmas from the early days of the Church — perhaps because of his “eyewitness” testimony. His first epistle is used during the Christmas season. A careful reading of the epistle makes clear, however, that St. John is not interested in ancient history but in current events. What he heard, saw, touched is not a memory of the past to be filed away as one of the “greatest hits.” Rather, Jesus opened a door so we can continue to hear, see, touch the presence of God in the world in one another.
