It’s hard to resist making New Year’s resolutions. Every January I have big plans to pray more, study longer, and eat better every day. Behind all my good intentions is a desire to return my life to some kind of order I feel I lost over the past year.
John’s gospel begins with a rich word— the “Word”— which comes from the ancient Greek logos. Greek philosophers viewed the logos as the power that puts sense into the world: making it a place of order over one of chaos. John seems to say to us, “You thought a long time about ‘the Word.’ Now I’m going to tell you who that is.” He explained Jesus in a way that both Jews and Greeks would have understood: as the one who brings order to our lives.
What amazing new order might we anticipate by making our friendship with Jesus our first resolution for this new year?
—Joe Kraemer, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the California province, is studying philosophy at Fordham University.