Daily Catholic Lectio. Wed, 31 December ‘25. From His Fullness

Daily Catholic Lectio

Wed, 31 December ‘25

Christmas Octave – Seventh Day 

1 John 2:18–21. John 1:1–18

From His Fullness

Today we stand at the threshold between time that has passed and time yet to come. The Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us: “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.” On this final day of the year, let us not ask what we have achieved, but through what we have achieved what we have become.

Another year has been added to our lives. Along the way, we have known success and failure, abundance and lack, health and sickness, movement and rest. Some chapters have closed; others have just begun. The deeper question is simple and honest: How have these experiences changed us?

The Gospel of today offers us three lights for this moment of review and gratitude.

1. “In Him was life”

“In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Throughout this year, light and darkness have walked together in our lives. Scripture does not promise us a year without darkness. What it promises is stronger: darkness will not have the final word. Even when fear surrounded us, even when uncertainty pressed in, the darkness did not overcome us. As we end this year, we give thanks not because darkness was absent, but because it did not defeat us. We are here. We have come through. The light has held.

2. “He gave power to become children of God”

“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him… he gave power to become children of God.” There is sadness in rejection, but there is deep joy in what follows. To receive Christ is to be raised one step higher—to live not merely by human strength, but by divine belonging. Jesus lifts every life he touches. He does not reduce us; he enlarges us. If those born only of human desire can live with courage, imagine the strength entrusted to those called children of God. This identity is our true resource as we step into a new year—not our plans, not our resolutions, but who we are in him.

3. “From his fullness we have all received”

“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” At the end of the year, our hearts may still whisper, “Not enough.” Not enough time. Not enough love. Not enough success. Not enough security. This restlessness drives us to want more and more.

God himself is our fullness. When he fills us, we are free—from envy, from comparison, from endless wanting. As we close this year, we choose gratitude over scarcity, trust over anxiety.

Let one word be our farewell to the year: Thank you.

And as the fullness of heaven has come down to us, let us pray that this fullness may overflow from us to others.

Concluding Prayer

Lord God,

Here I stand before you, at the end of this year,

not empty, but filled—

filled by your hands and your gifts.

The moments when I stumbled,

the times I lost my way,

the promises I failed to keep,

the relationships I wounded or lost—

I place them all at your feet.

Holding the tender finger of your Son,

I wish to walk into the new year.

Let the emptiness, loneliness, weariness,

discouragement, and disappointment within me pass away—

as long as you do not pass away from me.

From your fullness, fill me again.

From your light, guide my steps.

From your mercy, shape my tomorrow.

Amen.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy