12/31/2025 (Wednesday) Today’s Gospel reading: John 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be
4 through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;
5 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 A man named John was sent from God.
7 He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.
11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,
13 who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth.
15 John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”
16 From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace,
17 because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

12/31/2025 (Wednesday) Today’s Gospel reflection / homily / sermon: John 1:1-18

A Year Ends, the Light Remains

As we stand at the edge of another year, we naturally look back at joys that surprised us, losses that humbled us, prayers answered and others still waiting. John’s opening verses invite us to see time itself differently. Before calendar was invented, deadlines to meet, and new-year’s resolutions, there was meaning, purpose, and light. As the year ends, this passage offers three enduring truths to carry with us into the year ahead.

1. Before Everything Else, There Was Purpose
John reminds us that life is not an accident of time or chance. Before our successes and failures, before the plans that worked and those that fell apart, there was purpose and intention. This year may have included moments when things felt chaotic or directionless. Yet the message is clear: our lives are rooted in something deeper than circumstances. Even when the year felt unstructured or confusing, it was not empty of meaning and value. As we close the year, we can rest in the assurance that our story is part of a larger, purposeful design, one that continues even when we don’t fully understand it.

2. Light Shines, Even in the Darkest Seasons
Every year has its shadows such as moments of disappointment, fatigue, fear, or grief. John speaks honestly about darkness, but he does not allow it as the final word. Light is not the absence of darkness; it is what enters it and refuses to be overcome. As we review this year, we may remember seasons when hope felt thin and answers slow. Yet if we look closely, light was present in quiet endurance, unexpected kindness, lessons learned through pain, or strength we didn’t know we had. Year-end reflection is not about pretending the darkness wasn’t real, but about recognizing that it never had absolute power.

3. Grace Meets Us Where We Are
The heart of Gospel’s message is that divine truth did not remain distant. It entered ordinary human life with its complexity, weakness, and limitation. This is especially powerful at year’s end, when many of us feel unworthy because of missed goals, mistakes, or unfinished plans. The good news is that grace does not wait for a perfect version of us. It meets us exactly where we are, tired, hopeful, uncertain, or renewed. The year ahead does not begin with pressure to prove ourselves, but with an invitation to receive grace anew, again and again.

As this year closes, we do not step into the future empty-handed. We carry purpose that precedes us, light that accompanies us, and grace that sustains us. The calendar will change, but these truths remain. May we end this year with gratitude, and begin the next not with fear, but with quiet confidence, knowing that the Light is already ahead of us, shining still.

God bless us all.

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