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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Continuing with Christ in the New Year
December has always been an auspicious month in my family. In addition to Advent and Christmas times, my fiancée’s and mother’s birthdays on December 1 and today, respectively, flank my parent’s wedding anniversary on the 19th. As we rang in the new liturgical year beginning with Advent, our preparation for the Nativity now sets us up on a strong foundation for the Gregorian New Year. As we close out the first octave of Christmas and 2025, I pray that our New Year continues on the right path. During “the most wonderful time of the year” it is important to reflect on our role to bear witness to the light that Christ has bestowed upon us and to share it with the world. Like John in today’s Gospel is charged with introducing the Lord’s love to others, we are on this earth to simply be stewards of the Lord’s gifts — he will take care of everything else.
—Ellen M Walker, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Xavier University in Louisiana — the only Catholic HBCU in the US — and a lector at Saint Anthony of Padua in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Prayer
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from you.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to you
That with your saints I may praise you
For ever and ever. Amen.
—Anima Christi
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.