23 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” John 1:12
The prologue now speaks of rejection and welcome. “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” There was no room at the inn. But to all who did receive him, “who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God”, born not of blood or of human will, but of God. Christmas is God's offer of adoption.
Paul struggles in prayer for the Colossians and for many he has never met, so that their hearts may be encouraged and united in love, and that they may have “the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The child in the manger looks poor, but in him are all the treasures of God.
Theme: “He gave power to become children of God.”
Rejected and received.
“He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;” Isaiah 53:3
“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” John 1:11
Apply: Welcome someone who is usually left out.
“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.” 2 Samuel 7:14
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” John 1:12
Apply: Renew your baptismal promises tonight.
“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;” Proverbs 2:6
“Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2–3
Apply: Spend quiet time before the crib tomorrow.
There was no room at the inn; let there be room in us.
Receive him and become God's child.
Take-home resolution: Prepare a crib at home and pray before it.
Dear friends, St Paul tells the Colossians how much he struggles for them and for those at Laodicea, so that their hearts may be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:1–3).
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. Two days before Yaldo, they are hidden in a child about to be born. God hides his greatest treasures in humble places.
Paul warns: I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments (Colossians 2:4). Faith needs both love and understanding. A believer who knows Christ well is not easily deceived.
In the Gospel John writes: he was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God (John 1:10–12).
These are among the saddest and most hopeful words in the Bible. The Creator came to his own creation, and it did not recognise him. But to all who received him, he gave the power to become children of God.
In two days we will celebrate his coming. Will we receive him? Let us make room: a good confession, reconciliation, quiet prayer, charity to someone in need. And let us become what he came to make us: children of God. Amen.
Children, there was no room for Jesus at the inn. Make room for Jesus in your heart by saying a prayer every night!
Lord Jesus, you came to your own and they did not receive you. We welcome you now: make room in our hearts and homes, make us children of God, and show us all the treasures hidden in you. Amen.
Today's readings speak of what God gives to those who receive him. Paul tells the Colossians that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, so they need not look elsewhere. John says that the Word came to his own, and that those who received him were given power to become children of God. The riches of Christmas are not a thing but a Person, and the way into them is to receive him.
Setting.
Colossae was a small town in the Lycus valley of Asia Minor, near Laodicea and Hierapolis. Paul had not founded this church; it came to faith through Epaphras (1:7), and Paul writes as a prisoner (4:18) to people who had never met him. Some teaching was circulating among them that offered a deeper wisdom, with special rules and visions (2:8, 16–18). The Church has received the letter under Paul's name, though many scholars think a close disciple may have had a hand in it.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself,” (2:2)
A note on the text. The ancient manuscripts differ a good deal in this phrase. The reading that the NRSV and POC follow, found in the very old papyrus P46 and in Codex Vaticanus, identifies the mystery with Christ. Note also the order: love comes first, and understanding grows in a community united in love.
“in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (2:3)
This is the centre of the passage. Jewish wisdom writings speak of wisdom as a treasure to be sought (Proverbs 2:1–5). Paul says where it is to be found.
“For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” (2:5)
The Greek words behind “morale” (taxis) and “firmness” (stereōma) can both be used of soldiers in good order holding a line. The community is standing firm, and Paul is glad of it.
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that the deepest truth about God and about human salvation shines out in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation (Dei Verbum 2). St John of the Cross, writing on this verse in his Spiritual Canticle, says that however much the saints have discovered in Christ, most of it remains still to be said: he is like a rich mine with many pockets of treasure, and however deep one digs, one never reaches the end (in substance).
Setting.
The prologue moves from the true light (v. 9) to the response it receives. Two refusals come first, by the world and by “his own”, and then the great exception: those who received him. These verses already contain, in small, the plot of the entire Gospel: chapters 1–12 tell of the light offered and refused, and chapters 13–21 are for those who receive him.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” (1:11)
This verse must not be used to blame the Jewish people. Many of “his own” did receive him: Mary, Joseph, John, the apostles and the first Church were all Jews. The Church teaches that the Jews are not to be held collectively responsible for the rejection of Jesus (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597). The verse is a warning for every Christian who has known Christ for a long time, since it is possible to be close to him and not receive him.
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” (1:12)
“All” opens the door: no race, family or merit is required. Receiving and believing explain each other. The tense in “received” points to the moment of acceptance, and “believed” (a present participle in Greek) to an ongoing life of faith.
“who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” (1:13)
A note on the text. All Greek manuscripts have the plural, “who were born”, speaking of believers. A few early Latin witnesses and some early writers, among them Irenaeus and Tertullian, read the singular, “who was born”, referring to Christ's birth from the Virgin. Most Bibles follow the plural, but the link between the two births is real: he was born of God so that we might be.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism names this among the reasons for the Incarnation: the Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (CCC 460, quoting 2 Peter 1:4). It quotes St Irenaeus, who says the Word became man so that man might become a son of God, and St Athanasius, who says the Son of God became man so that we might become God. Baptism is the rebirth that John means here (see John 3:5; CCC 1213).