Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us —
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete. (1 Jn 1:1-4)
We continue our celebration of life on this day in the Octave of Christmas as we remember not only the birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ, but also His remarkable impact upon so many people throughout the generations. Our God’s love is so great that it touches all of His creation and instills a longing into all people’s hearts for “home”.
It is up to each individual to respond to that call.
On this feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we see an example of how a grateful heart is supposed to reach out to God: by speaking about His glory to all who can hear.
John shared his message of love so that his joy could be complete. He was given a message of truth and justice, of peace and love, by Jesus. That message, entrusted to him, was not supposed to be hoarded. No. It was supposed to be shared.
That message given to us is the same message. It does not grow old with the passing of the years. It is a message of the peace and love and hope that has been given to us by the Christ Child. Jesus, Son of God, was born as one of us. He took on our own fragile frame so that, in becoming one of us, He would have a better chance of being heard by us.
Touched by His love, touched by His message, we are now the ones who are challenged to share His message with our world.
May your continued celebration of Christmas give you the grace that you need to be a bearer of God’s word to a world that so desperately needs to hear it.
FAITH ACTION: Pray that you have the grace and the courage to proclaim the Good News entrusted to you by God.