What is this “Word” that was with God?

In our time, words seem to have lost their weight. They’ve been worn thin by overuse. Take the word love, for example. We say, I love that cake, or I love these clothes. But who would give their life for cake, or suffer for a shirt the way they would for a spouse or a child? We use strong words for trivial things, and in doing so, we drain them of their true meaning.

We’ve grown used to words without commitment. A repairman says, I’ll be there tomorrow, but doesn’t come. We tell friends, We must catch up, but the meeting never happens. Words are often just noise. Promises without power, expressions without action. But the Gospel begins with a different kind of word:

“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.”

This Word is not empty. It is not powerless. This Word does what it says.
God spoke, Let there be light, and light appeared.
He said, Let the earth bring forth life, and it did.
God’s Word is not just sound—it is action. It creates, it transforms, it brings order and meaning.

The Greek word used here is Logos. In ancient philosophy, Logos expressed what the divine reason that shaped and ordered the universe is. But in the Gospel of John, Logos is not just an abstract principle—it’s a person. It’s Jesus Christ.

The early Church understood this: Jesus is the Logos, the living Word of God.

And this Word has power.
Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Get up and walk—and he walked.
To the deaf man, he said, Ephphatha—be opened—and his ears were opened.
To Lazarus, dead and buried, Jesus called, Come out!—and Lazarus came out.

This is the Word that was with God from the beginning is now made flesh in Jesus.

And this Word is still speaking to us today. With the power to create, transform, give life.
It reaches out from the pages of Scripture into the hearts of those willing to receive it. To the one whom welcomes it, this Word brings transformation. It cuts through the empty ideologies of the world and illuminates the true light that has come among us.

This Word is living and active. It does not return void.
As the prophet Isaiah declares:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return without watering the earth,
making it bud and flourish—
so is the word that goes out from my mouth:
it will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:10–11)

Let us ask for the grace to welcome this Word, not just to hear it.
But to let it take root and lluminate our life. Let it change us, and to become, ourselves,
witnesses to the true Light that has come into the world.

Deacon Gerry.