Daily Catholic Mass Readings for December 27, 2025
First Reading: 1 John 1.1-4
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.4We write this to make our joy complete.
Psalm 97
1The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.2Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.3Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.4His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.5The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.6The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.7All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols- worship him, all you gods!8Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD.9For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.10Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.11Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.12Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
Gospel: John 20.2-8
2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
Sermon
Our first reading, from the First Letter of John, offers a profound testimony to the tangible reality of Jesus Christ. The apostle declares that he and his fellow witnesses have heard, seen, gazed upon, and even touched the Word of Life. This isn't a myth or a distant concept, but a person they experienced intimately. Their purpose in sharing this eyewitness account is so that we, too, might enter into this same fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in doing so, find our joy made full. It establishes the concrete foundation of our faith: God truly entered human history, visible and touchable.
The Gospel account from John picks up on this theme of seeing and believing, but in the context of the empty tomb on Resurrection morning. Mary Magdalene's distress sends Peter and the beloved disciple racing to the tomb. The beloved disciple, arriving first, sees the linen cloths lying undisturbed, and the head covering neatly rolled up in a separate place. These details, far from suggesting a frantic theft, speak volumes. When he enters, he sees these signs, and in that moment, he believes. This isn't yet a direct encounter with the Risen Lord, but an act of faith born from observing the evidence, confirming that Jesus was not merely gone, but Risen in a mysterious, yet real, way.
Both passages call us to ground our faith not in abstract ideas, but in the historical and transformative reality of Jesus Christ. Just as the apostles bore witness to a Christ they experienced physically, and the beloved disciple believed based on the evidence of the empty tomb, so too are we invited to encounter the Risen Lord in our lives. The testimony of the early Church provides the foundation, inviting us into a fellowship that brings complete joy. Our spiritual journey, then, involves a constant turning towards the truth of the Incarnation and Resurrection, seeking out the signs of God's presence, and responding with a faith that sees and believes, leading us into deeper communion with Him.