31 December 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16
On the last day of the civil year the Church reads again the Prologue of John: “In the beginning was the Word.” As one year ends and another begins, we remember the One who stands above all time, through whom “all things came into being”, and who entered time to give us “grace upon grace”. The first reading says: “Children, it is the last hour.” Christian time is not an endless circle; it moves towards Christ's return.
It is right to end the year with thanksgiving. The Church traditionally sings the Te Deum on this evening, and grants a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to those who take part in its public recitation on the last day of the year (Enchiridion of Indulgences). We thank God for every grace of the past year, ask pardon for our sins, and entrust the new year to Mary, Mother of God, whose solemnity begins tonight. Pope St Sylvester I, remembered today, led the Church in the years after the persecutions ended.
Theme: “Grace upon grace.”
At the end of the year: the eternal Word, the light that darkness cannot overcome, and thanksgiving for every grace.
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” Genesis 1:1–3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” John 1:1–3
Apply: Offer the coming year to Christ.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”” John 8:12
Apply: Bring one darkness of this year to Confession.
“So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.” Psalm 90:12
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16–17
Apply: Take part in the Te Deum tonight.
Time belongs to Christ.
We end the year with thanks and begin it with Mary.
Take-home resolution: Begin the new year at Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Dear friends, on the last day of the year St John writes: children, it is the last hour! Many antichrists have come (1 John 2:18). For Christians, every hour since Christ's coming is the last hour: a time of decision and of vigilance. But John reassures us: you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you know the truth (1 John 2:20).
The Gospel takes us back to the beginning: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him. In him was life, and the life was the light of all people (John 1:1–4).
At the end of a year, we remember that time itself was made through the Word. Our years begin and end in him. He is the Alpha and the Omega.
John continues: the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace (John 1:14, 16). Grace upon grace: that is a good summary of the year that is ending. Even in difficulties, God's grace did not stop.
Tonight many will celebrate with fireworks and parties. That is fine. But let us also make time to thank God, to ask pardon for the sins of this year, and to entrust the new year to him. Many parishes hold a thanksgiving Mass or adoration at midnight.
Tomorrow the Church celebrates Mary, Mother of God, and prays for peace in the world. Let us begin the new year in the arms of the Mother and the Child. Grace upon grace: thank you, Lord, for this year. Amen.
Children, tonight thank Jesus for all the good things this year. Ask Him to stay with you all next year!
We praise you, O God, we acknowledge you to be the Lord. For every grace of this year, thank you; for every sin, forgive us; for the year to come, guide us. From your fullness let us receive grace upon grace. Amen.
On the last day of the calendar year the Church reads of an end and of a beginning. John says, “it is the last hour”, and reminds his community that they already have what they need: the anointing and the truth. The Gospel goes back before all time: “In the beginning was the Word”, and then comes down to one point in history, “the Word became flesh”. Every year ends. The Word does not.
Setting.
The crisis behind the letter comes into the open here. A group has left the community, and John does not hide how serious this is. For him it is a sign of the last times. Yet he writes to reassure those who remain and not to frighten them.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” (2:18)
The Greek has “antichrist” both times; the Malayalam POC reads “false christs” the second time. John is less concerned with one figure of the future than with those present in his time who deny Christ.
“They went out from us, but they did not belong to us;” (2:19)
The pain of a divided Church is an old pain. John's words were written about one crisis in his own community. They do not give us the right to pass judgment on Christians of other Churches today, whom Vatican II calls brothers and sisters (Unitatis Redintegratio 3).
“But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.” (2:20)
A note on the text. Some ancient manuscripts read “all of you have knowledge”, which the NRSV follows; others read “you know all things”, the reading of the Latin Vulgate. The first seems to fit John's point: knowledge is not for a special group, as some may have claimed, but for all the anointed.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that before Christ's second coming the Church will pass through a final trial, and that the supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist (CCC 675). It warns against false hopes of a messianic age within history (CCC 676). Catholics are anointed with sacred chrism after baptism and at confirmation, as a sign of sharing in the anointing of Christ (CCC 1241, 1294).
Setting.
These verses open the Fourth Gospel and they are also the Gospel of the Mass during the day on Christmas. Their poetic form has led many scholars to think of them as a hymn, into which the Evangelist has placed the verses on John the Baptist (vv. 6–8, 15). The opening words echo Genesis 1:1. A new creation is being told.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1)
Three short statements: the Word's eternity, his distinction from the Father, and his divinity. The whole later teaching of the Council of Nicaea is in seed here.
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (1:14)
The centre of the Prologue and the reason for Christmas. “Grace and truth” probably echoes the Hebrew pair ḥesed and ’ĕmet, steadfast love and faithfulness, of Exodus 34:6.
“No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (1:18)
A note on the text. The oldest Greek manuscripts read “God the only Son”, which the NRSV and the POC follow; many others read “the only Son”. Either way, the Son alone makes the Father known, and in Jesus we see the Father (John 14:9).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism devotes a section to why the Word became flesh: to save us by reconciling us with God, so that we might know God's love, to be our model of holiness, and to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (CCC 456–460). It quotes St Athanasius: the Son of God became man so that we might become God (CCC 460). In the older form of the Roman Mass these verses were read at the end of almost every Mass as the “Last Gospel”. The Angelus still repeats v. 14 three times a day.
“His own people did not accept him” (1:11). Is this a charge against the Jewish people?
No. It describes the drama of every human heart that closes itself to God, and the same chapter goes on to speak of those who did receive him. Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist and the apostles were all Jews. The Church rejects any blame placed on the Jewish people as a whole (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597).
Today has an optional memorial of St Sylvester I, pope from 314 to 335, who led the Church in the years after the persecutions ended. In the evening the Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is celebrated. It is an old Latin custom to sing the Te Deum in thanksgiving on the last day of the year, and the Church grants a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to those who take part in its public recitation today.