December 24, 2025 // Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent // Christmas Eve
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 1:67-79
Reflect on the Word //
When I finally knelt, rosary in hand, to meditate on the Life of Christ, I was startled by the intensity of my need for God to break through: Lord, I need You. I had been bracketing some difficult news and challenges to get through a busy week. I needed quality time to speak to the Lord and to hear Him. So at this first opportunity to truly pray, the Holy Spirit gave me grace to be utterly vulnerable. My longings, griefs, and fears surfaced and surged.
It was a visceral longing for a savior. Then I came face to face with the mystery of His Birth. As I contemplated the tiring journey of the young Holy Family, I longed for the Light of the World. He is the culmination; His birth is the high point of the Joyful Mysteries. The words of Zechariah from today’s Gospel echo my longing: “[T]he dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death” (Luke 1:78-79).
This perfectly innocent newborn Baby was born in such poverty and at a time when His people were horribly oppressed, not just by worldly rulers but by the darkness of evil and sin. The Alleluia verse and O Antiphon for today comes from today’s Gospel, and refers to Jesus as “Radiant Dawn.” When I consider Him as the radiant dawn, like light breaking through every shadow, I experience the blessedness of the poor in spirit. He is the radiant dawn because He knows my need; God became Man so I could never doubt that He not only knows humanity’s need notionally but in His own flesh. His logic is reflected in the tiny wrinkly hands and feet of a newborn baby—ready to be protected, nurtured, and received.
Sister, tonight is for contemplating the “with-ness” of God; tonight Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us,” comes. This is astounding. May we take courage—with everything we are carrying—in Him Who was truly tested in every way, as Saint Paul says, and draws near to us in need as our timely help.
Relate to the Lord // Pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary today (or even simply the third mystery, the Birth of Jesus) and give thanks to God for giving us His Son.
Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi, after twenty years in religious life, is discerning a call to found a community of consecrated religious women dedicated to Our Lady and who will pray reparation for sins against the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, pray for conversions, and work for the evangelization of those who have left the Church or feel furthest from the Church.
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