Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 31, 2022
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.
For the last four years, I’ve studied theology in an intentional community. People from my community are from all over the world, and the only commonality between us is the study of philosophy or theology. That, and a shared interest in food.
Every Sunday night, we gather for a meal that someone in the community cooks. The cuisines are from all over the world, and we go all out. Chicken adobo from the Philippines, biriyani from India, beef bourguignon from France, tacos al pastor from Mexico, gumbo from Louisiana, and even the classic, universally recognized breakfast for dinner.
I am always amazed by what my friends pull off with our budget. I, of course, take pictures. Over four years, I now have a sizable library of these communion images. Looking through them now, I feel time slowly pass by in the photos of memorable meals that can take me back so viscerally that the gift of gratitude is miraculously thrust upon me.
Today’s gospel is basically on everything in the universe. It’s John’s gloss on the whole book that is to follow, framing the story of Jesus the Nazarene within the scope of divine incarnation. It is a sacralization of the banal, the profane, the quotidian lives we lead; it is God collectively hitting us over the head with a hammer to say: “This. This is all good.”
Especially now, at the turning of a new year, the only proper response to this grace is gratitude, held out as a gift––perhaps as a meal––to our neighbors with whom we dwell in this world.
Prayer
Jesus, your coming was heralded by John, who never failed in his vocation to point only to you. You call us to take up John’s work of testifying to you by our thoughts, words, and action. Help us to grow in humility so that we can recognize that anything of our own that is worth pointing to is a gift from you. Show us how to put those gifts into your service and let them bear fruit for the Kingdom. Grant that many may accept our testimony, and grant us perseverance when they reject us. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Pope Sylvester is better known for the events that took place during his pontificate than for anything we know about his own life. He was ordained pope in 314, less than a year after the Roman Empire granted freedom to Christianity.
Legends accrued around Sylvester because he was pope when Constantine opened the empire to Christianity, an event that changed the Church forever. One story tells of Constantine suffering from leprosy until he converted to Christianity and was baptized by Sylvester, and thereupon cured. In gratitude, it is said that the emperor granted special privileges and lands to the pope and Church. These are likely fabrications, however, created to serve political ends.
Constantine did, however, give the Lateran palace in Rome to Sylvester, who used it as the seat from which he oversaw the Church in Rome. It has since become the Lateran Basilica, and remains the official seat of the pope, whose fundamental role is bishop of Rome.
He died in 335, and is depicted in this stained glass window (with mitre and crosier) in the Basilica with St. Helena as she discovers the true cross.
Pope St. Sylvester, who oversaw the growth of the Church into a world-wide institution, pray for us!