Gospel: December 31, 2024
December 31, 2024 (Tuesday)
7th Day in the Octave of Christmas
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)
St. Sylvester I, pope
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 96: 1-2, 11-12, 13
Let the heaven be glad and the earth rejoice!
1st Reading: 1 John 2: 18-21
Gospel: John 1: 1-18
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in him; life, which for human beings, was also light, light that shines in darkness, light that darkness could not overcome.
A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light; for the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and through him the world was made, the very world that did not know him.
He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but to all who received him, he empowers to become children of God, for they believe in his name. These are born, but not by seed, or carnal desire, nor by the will of man: they are born of God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.
John bore witness to him openly, saying, “This is the one who comes after me, but he is already ahead of me, for he was before me.” From his fullness we have all received, favor upon favor. For God had given us the law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-only-Son made him known: the one, who is in and with the Father.
Reflection:
“Becoming children of God”
We are on the last day of 2024. We can only stand before the Lord in gratitude for all that we have been through in our faith journey this past entire year. What else can we say? With the beautiful Prologue of John’s Gospel, we have a beautiful way to end our faith journey together throughout 2024. Today’s Gospel pericope is the first 18 verses of John’s Gospel—the one we already reflected on during Christmas Day. It tells of God’s self-communication from eternity, to creation and to our human history. It speaks about the coming of the eternal Word into the world. Today, as we end our faith journey this year, we are again reminded of the Prologue’s inspiring line: “And the Word became flesh and pitched his tent in us” (cf. Jn 1:14), a poetic way to capture the spirit of Christmas season. Within the same Prologue, we can find the challenging line: “he gave them power to become children of God” (cf. Jn 1:12) God wants us to become his children and Jesus’ coming into the flesh has made that possible. Now, we can continue our faith journey with greater confidence.
