Those of us of a certain age recall the Prologue of the Gospel according to John as “the last gospel.” At the conclusion of every Mass the celebrant would proclaim John 1:1-18 before leaving the altar. (Since it was all in Latin, not many people knew what was going on!) The fact that this text was used at every Mass shows the importance that it had for the Church. Careful analysis of the passage shows that St. John structured the poem to highlight its central assertion: “to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” For the evangelist the significance of “the word became flesh” was not limited to the birth of Jesus but included our own transformation into adopted children.
