Thursday, December 31, 2026 — The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
In the beginning was the Word
John 1:1-18
Readings of the day: 1 John 2:18-21; Psalm 96:1-2, 11-12, 13; John 1:1-18.
The Gospel
Today’s Gospel is John’s prologue once more, heard now on the last day of the year: before all things the Word already was, with God and God himself. Through him all things were made; in him was life, and that life was the light of men, shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John the Baptist came as a witness to the light, so that all might believe through him; he was not the light, only its witness. The true light came into the world, but the world did not know him, and his own did not receive him. To all who did receive him he gave power to become children of God, born not of blood nor of human will, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
Reflection
The year ends where Christmas began: with the Word who was in the beginning. “The other Evangelists describe Christ as born in time,” says St. Bede; “John witnesseth that He was in the beginning. The others prove Him very man; he very God.” A Platonist once said, St. Augustine tells us, that the beginning of this Gospel ought to be copied in letters of gold and placed in the most conspicuous place in every church. And the gift it holds is given, not made: “He saith not that He made them the sons of God, but gave them power to become the sons of God,” says St. Chrysostom, “shewing that there is need of much care, to preserve the image, which is formed by our adoption in Baptism, untarnished.” Carry that power into the new year: the light still shines, and the darkness has not overcome it.
From the Fathers
“A certain Platonist once said, that the beginning of this Gospel ought to be copied in letters of gold, and placed in the most conspicuous place in every church.”
— St. Augustine, The City of God, in the Catena Aurea on John 1:1–5
“He saith not that He made them the sons of God, but gave them power to become the sons of God: shewing that there is need of much care, to preserve the image, which is formed by our adoption in Baptism, untarnished.”
— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on John, in the Catena Aurea on John 1:11–13
Saint of the day
Saint Sylvester I, Pope (314–335). Bishop of Rome from 314 until his death on this day in 335, he governed the Church in the first years of peace after the persecutions, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. The First Council of Nicaea (325), which condemned Arianism and confessed the Son to be true God from true God, was held during his pontificate, and he was represented there by his legates. According to tradition, he baptized the emperor Constantine. He was buried in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 204). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on John 1:1–18, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).