Our Sabbath Scripture Stories – 2nd Sunday after Christmas

Read or listen to this Sunday’s Mass readings here.

  • Sirach 24:1-2, 8-12
  • Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18
  • John 1:1-18

For Christmas this year, Vincent had gotten a book of riddles, and since then he had been peppering his family with his humor.  Riddle after riddle came firing from his mouth.  He would even chase down his brothers and sisters and try to stump them with his jokes.

“How do bees brush their hair?” Vincent asked Mary Clare, catching her in the living room.

“I don’t know,” she said back to her brother.

“With HONEYCOMBS!” Vincent chuckled, and Mary Clare just rolled her eyes.

“Lucy, Lucy!” Vincent went after his other sister.  “What do you call a cook who can’t flip pancakes?”

“What?” was all Lucy could say.

“A FLIP-FLOP!” Vincent laughed, obviously enjoying himself. 

Dad saw all the pleading looks for help in the other kids’ eyes when Vincent and his joke book were around.  Maybe if he could stump him with a great riddle, Vincent would have mercy on the rest of the family.  So, Dad decided to have some fun himself this morning!

“Hey Vincent, I have a riddle for YOU!” Dad said. 

“You do?” Vincent asked.  “What is it?”

“I’ll tell you as we read our Scripture for this morning!” he told his son.

Soon, all the Paulines were gathered in the living room for today’s Scripture reading.  It was from the first chapter of John.

“Before I read the Scripture passage, I told Vincent that I had a riddle for him,” Dad announced to his family.  “So, the riddle is this: which word stays the same and has the same meaning even if you switch the first letter to a different letter?”

Huh?” everyone asked.  You could tell they were all stumped.

“Poor Vincent has to answer THAT?!” Lucy said, looking with pity on her older brother.

“Maybe the answer will come to you after we read our Scripture passage!” Dad told Vincent.  Then, he began reading from the book of John.  When he was finished, he closed the book and looked at his family.  He could tell that they were still trying to figure out the riddle, and no one had an answer yet.

“I am wondering if you have gotten my riddle yet?” Dad asked Vincent, who had a strained look on his forehead.

“Well, this passage talks about darkness into light … “ Vincent said.  “Is that part of the riddle?”

“Everything is part of the answer!” his dad told him.  “Yes, this passage does say the light overtook the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it!”

“Is the answer something to do with the ‘In the beginning’ part and how the world was made?” Vincent asked again, still puzzled.

“That’s part of it, too!” Dad told them.

Then Dad took pity on Vincent and how he was trying so hard to figure this riddle out.  “I am going to tell you the answer, Vincent, and it’s the heart of our Gospel reading for this morning.  The riddle was: which word stays the same and has the same meaning even if you switch the first letter to a different letter?”

“And the answer is … ”  Vincent said, leading him on to finally find out.

“And the answer is, the word ‘WORD’ and the word ‘LORD’!” Dad told him.  “If you change the one letter ‘W’ to an ‘L,’ this word stays the same and has the same meaning!”

“Word and Lord are the same?” Vincent asked him, still hazy on the answer.

“That’s right!” Dad told him and the rest of the family.  “This Gospel of John tells us that, from the beginning of time, Jesus was, is, and always will be the Eternal Word of God.  Jesus is Lord and Savior; always was, is, and will be.  WORD and LORD are the same in the mind of God!”

“That’s a great riddle!” Mrs. Pauline told her husband.  “It’s true!  The WORD as mentioned in this Gospel is both life and light.  Jesus is the WORD and our LORD at the same time!”

“One letter changed completely, and yet there is no difference in meaning!” Vincent chuckled.  “I like that riddle!” 

“Yeah, that was a GREAT riddle,” Mary Clare told her father.  Then, she glanced at her brother, Vincent.  “In fact, it was the best riddle I’ve heard in a long time!”

Vincent picked up on the comment.  “Okay, I know I’ve been hounding the family with my comedy!  But one last riddle … please!”

“Okay, Vincent, one more … ” his family told him.

Vincent took center stage.  “What do you say to speed up a turtle?”

Everyone looked around.  It was obvious that no one knew the answer.

“Make it SNAPPY!” Vincent laughed.  “And we better ‘make it snappy’ so we’re not late for Mass!”

So, in good humor, the family headed off to church!

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