The Christmas season invites us to slow down and to look again – more deeply – at the mystery we have been celebrating. After the shepherds, the angels, and the manger scenes, today the Church takes us back to the very beginning: “In the beginning was the Word.” St John does not start with Bethlehem. He starts with eternity. Before the crib, before Mary and Joseph, before creation itself, there was the Word – Christ – who was with God and who was God. And then comes the line that changes everything: “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” This is the heart of Christmas. God does not remain distant or abstract. He enters fully into our human story. He takes on our flesh, our vulnerability, our joys and our sorrows. He comes not as an idea or a theory, but as a person who can be seen, touched, rejected, and loved. John tells us that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. That is not just a poetic phrase; it is a promise. The darkness John speaks of is very real – fear, grief, loneliness, sin, and despair. We know those shadows well, in our world and in our own hearts. Yet Christmas proclaims that none of these has the final word. Christ does. Still, the Gospel is honest. “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” The light is offered, but it can be refused. Christmas is not only about what God does; it is also about how we respond. Do we make room for him, or do we allow the noise, the busyness, and the familiar patterns of life to crowd him out?

But then comes another extraordinary promise: “To all who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God.” Christmas is not simply the celebration of Christ’s birth; it is the revelation of our own dignity. Through Christ, we are drawn into God’s family. We are no longer strangers or outsiders—we belong. As this Christmas season continues, the Church gently invites us not to rush on too quickly. The decorations may come down, the celebrations may fade, but the mystery remains. God has chosen to dwell among us. He is present in our homes, in our communities, in the Eucharist, and in every act of love, forgiveness, and kindness. So today, we pray for the grace to welcome the Word made flesh anew – to let his light enter the darker places of our lives, and to live as true children of God. If Christ has made his home among us, then may our hearts become a place where he is recognised, received, and shared with others.