Reflection for December 31, Thursday within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord: John 1:1-18

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 came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but 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 to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.  

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. 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. 

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.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

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Reflection:

Who is the word that is mentioned in the gospel? 

Jesus is the word that became flesh that dwelt amongst us and He became one with us. This is the mystery of the Incarnation: Jesus the word became like us with flesh and blood. 

This word that became flesh and blood which is Jesus shares with our pains and sufferings; He cures us from our sickness. He lightens our burdens because He walks with us and helps us carry our loads no matter how heavy. But in spite of His incarnation there are still many who don’t know him. Some of us know Jesus but we refuse to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. We continue to ignore His call of conversion. 

So what happens is we are beset with problems; we don’t have peace of mind and we continue to be enslaved by money, worries and other worldly things. This coming year, let us learn to lean and have hope in Jesus the word that became flesh. Let us allow Him to be our guiding light this 2021. 

The moment we allow Jesus to dwell into our hearts our lives this 2021 will be full of hope, positivity and we would be able to survive the many challenges that we would be facing this 2021 including the current Covid-19 pandemic. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas