3 January
1 John 2:29-3:6 | Psalm 97(98):1,3-6 | John 1:29-34
My dear people, we are already the children of God
but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is. (1 John 3:2)
There are only two things we can say for sure about the future:
- It’s coming, and
- Jesus is at the end of it.
So as we go about our daily lives, we should take some time to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. Daily reflection about what we have done each day would be a good start; in the words of the Confiteor that we pray at the beginning of each mass, “in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do”.
Then comes whatever corrective action is appropriate: perhaps a conscious effort to spend less time staring at our mobile devices, and more time interacting with our families. Or setting an alarm to remind us to get to church on time. Or a monthly reminder to plan an early arrival in time to confess our sins and cleanse our souls before receiving the Body of Christ.
As St. John the Evangelist reminds us, we are already the children of God…but we can, through neglect or active rebellion, deny our heavenly inheritance, so that on the last day, we will be nothing like Him, wallowing instead in eternal suffering.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we continue to celebrate Your birth, give us the courage to turn to You each day for guidance and comfort and inspiration to action, so that when You come again to judge the living and the dead, we may be privileged to behold You as You are, one God, Almighty God. Amen.