Thought for the Day 2026

3rd January 2026

Matthew 2:2 Where is the new-born king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.

If we are planning to go visit someone in another town, or if we are going on holiday, we might first ask someone who knew how to get there to give us directions or we might look on google maps. We might get general directions and learn the best roads to take. Personally, I love maps. They are really interesting. I used to love making treasure maps with my class. After Jesus was born, some wise men, also called Magi, saw a star in the sky which they believed announced the birth of a king. They travelled to Jerusalem. They had no map but a God given star to guide them. They saw, they believed and they went. A good example for us to follow.

2nd January 2026

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The world we live in still knows darkness. We see it in fear, in loneliness, in division, in suffering. Many people over the Christmas period come to church carrying heavy burdens, grief that hasn’t healed, worries about the future, relationships that are strained, hearts that are tired. Christmas does not pretend that these things don’t exist. Instead, it proclaims something far more powerful: God has entered this darkness. The child in the manger is not distant from our struggles. He is Emmanuel, God with us. Not God above us only, or God watching from afar, but God who steps into our human story, into our weakness, into our need.

1st January 2026

Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Between Christmas and New Year we tend to think Christmas is over for another year and we move on. But Christmas does not end at midnight on 25th. It begins! We are sent from midnight Mass, from Christmas morning Mass, to carry the light we have received into a world that still needs it. Like the shepherds, we are called to move on from Christmas changed, filled with wonder, filled with praise, and ready to share what we have seen and heard. At Christmas heaven touches earth. Love takes flesh. God whispers to every human heart: You are not alone. May we receive that gift with gratitude, protect it with faith, and live it with joy every day. 

I wish you many blessings for the New Year.