LIVE IT TODAY: Wednesday, December 31, 2025
I am the Word made flesh—Light that no darkness can overcome, Life given so you may truly live.
Christmas Blessings!
We are deeply grateful to share this journey with you—encountering Jesus Christ more fully and becoming instruments of His presence.
One simple way you can help is by “liking” this reflection. If someone comes to mind while reading, please share.
We are delighted to share with you The Inn Crowd — a very moving Christmas short story. Weekly Live IT radio program and podcast coming soon.
We wish you and your family abundant Christmas blessings.
LIVE IT TODAY: Wednesday, December 31, 2025
A GREAT WAY TO BEGIN TODAY!
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GOD’S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I am the Word made flesh—Light that no darkness can overcome, Life given so you may truly live.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
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.
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
The eternal Word enters time to claim us as children of God.
As the calendar year closes, the Church places us not at an ending, but at the Beginning. “In the beginning was the Word.” John does not start with Bethlehem or Nazareth, but with eternity. Before history unfolded, before creation took shape, the Word already was—face to face with the Father, sharing His very being.
This Gospel reveals that creation itself is personal. All things came to be through the Word, and what came to be through Him was life. Light is not an idea or a force; it is Someone. Darkness is not merely absence, but resistance. And yet the Gospel makes a definitive claim: the darkness has not overcome the Light.
John tells us that the Word “made his dwelling among us.” The Greek verb echoes the tabernacle—God pitching His tent in the midst of His people. God does not save from a distance. He enters fully into our condition, our limits, our wounds. Glory is revealed not by escape from humanity, but by God’s total embrace of it.
Yet the mystery sharpens. The Word comes to His own, and His own do not accept Him. Light exposes. Grace confronts. Christ reveals hearts by His very presence. There is no neutral ground with the Incarnation—acceptance or refusal, belief or resistance.
For families, this Gospel reaches straight into the home. The domestic church is where the Word still seeks to dwell. Faith is not merely inherited by biology or custom; it is received. Children become sons and daughters of God not by human decision, but by grace welcomed and lived.
As this year ends, we parents are invited to examine what voices have shaped our homes. The Word gives us power to become children of God—but that power must be received daily. We build saint-forming homes by choosing light over compromise, truth over convenience, grace over fear. We pray over our children by name, trusting that the Word who entered history continues to enter our lives, claiming every moment for redemption.
“The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’: ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.’” (CCC 460)
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
In My Heart: Where is Christ inviting me to receive His light more fully as this year ends?
In My Home: What habits or priorities help—or hinder—the Word from dwelling at the center of our family life?
In My World: How can I witness to truth and grace in places where darkness resists the light?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, share one place where you have seen God’s light break into your life this year.
Then, one by one, pray over each person by name, asking for an outpouring of grace to know God’s love personally, freedom from the whispers and lies of the Enemy, strength to overcome temptation, and courage to live as children of the Light in the year ahead.
Daily Challenge:
Name one concrete way your family will choose light—through prayer, forgiveness, or truth—as you enter the new year.
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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