Sunday the 4th of January 2026 - The Second Sunday of Christmas

Sirach 24:1-2, 8-12/ Ps 147/ Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18/ John 1:1-5, 9-14

What presents did we receive this Christmas? As the day recedes in our memory let us again consider the greatest gift we have been given. While the world has already packed away Christmas, moving on to sales and resolutions, we are still here, still standing at the manger, still pondering the incredible mystery of who this child is. So we should be, because this isn't just a nice holiday story that fades with the decorations, this is the event that changed everything.

The readings today remind us of the deepest mystery of our faith. They answer the question of who exactly is the baby lying in the manger? As John tells us, the answer is staggering: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This is not just beautiful writing, it is earth-shattering. The birth we are still celebrating, the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, is the eternal Word of God. He existed before time began. He spoke creation into existence. Through Him, everything that is came to be. The stars, the galaxies, the mountains, the oceans, all of it came into being through Him. This same eternal Word, the second person of the Holy Trinity, chose to become one of us. He did not just visit the world he created, He became flesh and dwelt among us, becoming fully and completely human.

This is the meaning of the Incarnation. God did not send a messenger. He did not deliver instructions from a distance. He came Himself, entering time. The Creator became like one of his creations. This is the gift that keeps on giving, year after year, because it is a once-and-for-all event that echoes through all eternity. What makes this even more incredible is how He chose to come. The Universal King of all creation did not arrive in splendour and majesty, He became a homeless child refugee, born into poverty and exile. The One through whom all things were made had nowhere to lay His head. The Lord of glory humbled Himself to become the most vulnerable among us. Why would God do this? The answer is simple and profound: love. Pure, sacrificial, overwhelming love for us. Saint Paul helps us understand this in today's second reading. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before the first star shone, before the first atom existed, God was already planning this moment, already planning to adopt us as His children, to make us His own through Jesus Christ. To share His divine life with us, to bring us into the very family of God, the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus even submitted to human death, not just any death, but the death of an outcast and criminal. He experienced rejection, betrayal, torture, and crucifixion. There is no human suffering that He does not understand, no pain He has not felt, no darkness He has not entered. He went all the way to the depths so that He could lift us all the way to the height of heaven The incredible humility of God doesn't end there. At each and every Mass, Jesus continues to condescend to come into His own creation. Coming to us again in the humble form of bread and wine. The King of Kings makes Himself available to us in the most ordinary, the most accessible way possible. Inviting us to receive him so that He may dwell in us as He once dwelt among us. This is what John means by “to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God." Every time we receive Jesus in the Eucharist with faith and love, when we say ‘Amen’ as we receive the consecrated host, we are accepting Him anew. We are saying yes to His presence, yes to His love, yes to becoming more fully who we were created to be, the sons and daughters of God.

The world has moved on from Christmas, but we cannot move on. We must stay here, pondering this mystery, because it is not just about one night in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. It is about every moment of every day. It is about God's relentless pursuit of us, His unending desire to be with us, His infinite love that will never let us go. In the first reading Sirach speaks of Wisdom pitching her tent among God's people. That is what happened at Christmas. God pitched His tent, He made His dwelling, right here among us. He continues to dwell with us in the Eucharist, in the Church, in the poor and suffering, in each baptised person who carries His life within them. So let us stay in Christmas mode. Not with the lights and decorations, but with the awe and wonder that never fades. Let us keep pondering who this baby is and what He means to us. Let us keep celebrating the gift that does not fade or diminish but grows richer and deeper with every passing year.

The world offers us gifts that disappoint, pleasures that fade, promises that ring hollow. God offers us Himself, fully, completely, eternally. He offers us a love that went to the cross and rose from the tomb. He offers us adoption as His children, a share in His divine life, and a hope that will never disappoint. This is the gift of Christmas that remains with us all year round, year after year. This is the light that John speaks of, the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never overcome it. This light shines in our world today, in our lives, in our hearts, if we will only open ourselves to receive it. So let us receive Jesus today with renewed wonder. With the same awe we feel gazing at the manger. Let us say with our whole hearts: Come, Lord Jesus. Dwell in us as You dwelt among us. Transform us by Your presence. Make us living witnesses to the incredible gift of Christmas. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Thanks be to God for this incredible gift.

God Bless Brendan