His Own People Received Him Not | iPray with the Gospel

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 were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.

John 1:1-18

It always strikes us this reproach: “He came to his own home, and his own people received him not”. People waiting for Him for centuries, asking God to come and, when He came, they didn’t receive Him! And what happened then can still happen in our life when Jesus shows up every day and we receive Him not.

A year has passed. 365 days have succeeded one another opening to us thousands of opportunities to meet Jesus: in the Holy Mass, in the Tabernacle, in our prayer, in family life, at work, in the needy, the sick, the suffering … Not one day has passed this year in which you and I couldn’t have grown in love…

Today is a day of examination. How have I made the most of each day to be holier, to grow in love with God? It’s a day of thanksgiving for thousands of things that have gone well. Thank You, Lord. It’s also a day of contrition for our failures and sins: I am truly sorry, my Jesus. It’s a day of hope because God grants us the grace to begin again and keep trying. That’s what a father loves: that his children keep trying to be better.

A playful little girl came to kiss her dad, singing: –‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the best daughter of them all?’ The father, amused, said that she wasn’t; ‘Not yet’, he added. The daughter looked serious, kissed him again and replied: –’I’m trying, dad. I’m trying hard!’ The father was moved and couldn’t help thinking that he wasn’t following his daughter’s example: he wasn’t trying to be the best father. Our Lady, my dear Mother, to you I entrust the new year that starts tomorrow: 365 opportunities for me to keep trying, seriously, to be a better child of Our Father every day, a better child of yours, Mother.