He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but to all who received him, he empowers to become children of God, for they believe in his name. These are born, but not by seed, or carnal desire, nor by the will of man: they are born of God.
     And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.
     John bore witness to him openly, saying, “This is the one who comes after me, but he is already ahead of me, for he was before me.” From his fullness we have all received, favor upon favor. For God had given us the law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-only-Son made him known: the one, who is in and with the Father.

REFLECTION:
     Today is the last day of the year. For a lot people, this is the day when they take New Year’s resolutions. As Christians, what can we say on this topic?
    First, just as we find promises and vows in all religions, likewise Chris­tianity (following up on Old Testament traditions) has always ­encouraged vows and promises. Why? Because they have the advantage of making our will stronger and more resolute. Well, we could say that our New Year’s resolutions are mini-vows and have the same good effect of strengthening our resolve to adopt some good new habit.
Second, we notice, however, that few people keep their New Year’s resolutions for a whole year. Now why is this? Presumably because they take on too many or too difficult ones. The wise thing to do here is to restrict oneself to only one resolution and to choose a resolution which is neither too easy nor too difficult.
    Third, once we have chosen our resolution, we should announce it to all and sundry (if it is not too personal) so that other people’s expectations after that will act as an added pressure helping us to live up to our resolution.
     Fourth, as in anything else, prayer gives us the strength to stay the course.