Whatever the future brings, our life is a gift given in Godly love

2ND SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS | FIRST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR | 4 JANUARY 2026

All the other gospels begin with a narrative, relating either the birth of Jesus or the beginning of his public ministry, or both. John’s gospel, uniquely, begins with a sublime poetic prologue that both parallels and recapitulates the account of creation described in Genesis, implying that creation, the whole of existence, can be seen aright only through the prism of Christ’s birth: the Word made flesh is the climax and fulfilment of God’s creative act.

The prologue to John’s gospel, which is today’s gospel, begins, as does the first book of the Bible, with the words, “In the beginning”. John is asserting that, from the first moment of time, the creation was pointing to the Incarnation and now, having taken place in history, it is the Incarnation that illuminates every conceivable human experience and every aspect of creation, rendering existence, and human existence in particular, ultimately meaningful. Hearing or reading this gospel at the beginning of the new year reminds us of the ultimate perspective within which our lives are lived and the true value of all that we treasure most.

Even at the best of times, the beginning of a new year is ambivalent, inducing debilitating cynicism in some and easily deflated optimism in others. But neither is appropriate. Hope is the virtue we need. Hope, “remembering forward”, keeps us focussed on the horizon ahead. Hope keeps vivid the remembrance of God’s promises, which form the essential context for what is taking place in our lives and in the world here and now.

Unlike optimism, hope is rooted in the conviction that the light of God’s love shines not only in the sunlit, carefree days of happiness but also in times of disappointment and distress, and even in the seeming darkness of death. The gift of hope keeps alive in us the belief that God’s purpose will be fulfilled in each of us and that even out of heartbreak and tragedy, he can, does and will bring blessings and goodness beyond our imagining.

All of this is true even if, at the threshold of another year, none of us has the faintest inkling of what the future holds. Whether young or old, healthy, or unwell, we do not possess our own lives, much less those of others, nor do we set the term of our life’s span. But whatever the future brings, our life is a gift given to us in Godly love. For all its frailty, this nature of ours, assumed by the Word made flesh, is “immortal diamond”, where we are privileged to live and love and through and in which we most nearly and clearly see and know God.

So, we can have confidence to live each day of the coming year in peace with those around us, especially those closest and dearest to us, missing no opportunity to express and speak our love and gratitude to them and to God. Whatever the new year brings, our heavenly Father is with us in our storm-tossed lives, and however faltering our faith, he will never not be with us. He has made his home in us and invites us to make our home in him, proving beyond all doubt that even if sometimes we may find it difficult to believe in him, he believes in us, utterly.

So, we can live, by God’s grace, neither cynics nor optimists but hope-filled realists. God’s Word is more eloquent than any that we ourselves may utter and his forgiveness is more powerful than any lapse from grace, however grave. That the Word has become flesh, our flesh, means that we need not fear time’s passing, or anything that time brings. If we reside all our hope in Him, the gift of time will inexorably bring us to our ultimate goal.