Presence

Dear Lord, as I come to You today,
fill my heart and my whole being
with the wonder of Your presence.

Freedom

“In these days, God taught me
as a schoolteacher teaches a pupil.” (Saint Ignatius).
I remind myself that there are things God has yet to teach me,
and I ask for the grace to hear them and let them change me.

Consciousness

Lord You have called me the “light of the world”.
Let me be always conscious of those You want me to serve:
the hungry and the homeless,
the sick and the destitute,
the stranger and the refugee.

The Word of God

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

⁶There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.^,

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴And 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. ¹⁵(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.’ ”) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.^{, 17}The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

Inspiration

This is the ‘Christmas Gospel’. Christmas is not simply the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus, but the awesome mystery of the Incarnation of God. God pitched his tent among us and remains among us as a human being forever.

The world did not know him. His own people, the leaders of the Jews, did not accept him. We have accepted him, and our vocation is to make his light shine for the whole world.

Conversation

Lord, help me to connect with You. I don’t always know how, but I want to receive Your love and I open my hands and my heart to You. Please come to me today.

Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Amen