January 4, 2016
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
Saint of the Day: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Foundress (1774-1821),
Saint Gregory, Bishop (c-541)
Reading 1
3:22Beloved: We receive from Him whatever we ask,
because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. 3:23And His commandment
is this:
we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus
Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us.[1]
3:24Those who keep His commandments remain in Him, and He in them, and the way we
know that He remains in us is from the Spirit whom He gave us.
4:1Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test
the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world.[2] 4:2This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every
spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, 4:3and
every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is
the spirit of the antichrist who, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is
already in the world.[3]
4:4You belong to God, children, and you have
conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the
world. 4:5They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the
world, and the world listens to them.
4:6We belong to God, and anyone who knows God
listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This
is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8ab) I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
7bThe LORD said to me, “You are my Son; 7cthis
day I have begotten you. 8Ask of me and I will give you the nations for an
inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.”
R. I will give you all the nations for an
inheritance.
10And now, O kings, give heed; take warning, you
rulers of the earth. 11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before Him;
with trembling rejoice.
R. I will give you all the nations for an
inheritance.
Alleluia Matthew 4:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and
cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
12When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He
withdrew to Galilee.[4] 13He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum
by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that what had been said
through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: 15Land of Zebulun and land of
Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16the
people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.
17From that time on, Jesus began to preach and
say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[5]
23He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the
Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.[6]
24His fame spread to all of Syria, and they
brought to Him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those
who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and He cured them.[7]
25And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from
beyond the Jordan followed Him.[8]
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 John 3:19-24 - Living a life of faith in Jesus and of
Christian love assures us of abiding in God no matter what our feelings may at
times tell us. Our obedience gives us confidence in prayer and trust in God's
judgment. This obedience includes our belief in Christ and love for one
another.
[2] 1 John 4:1-6 - Deception is possible in spiritual
phenomena and may be tested by its relation to Christian doctrine compare with 1 Corinthians 12:3: those who fail to acknowledge Jesus Christ in the flesh are false prophets
and belong to the antichrist. Even though these false prophets are well
received in the world, the Christian who belongs to God has a greater power in
the truth.
[3] 1 John 4:3 - Does not acknowledge Jesus: some ancient
manuscripts add "Christ" and/or "to have come in the flesh"
(compare with 1 John 4:2), and others read "every spirit that annuls (or severs) Jesus."
[4] Matthew 4:12-17 - Isaiah's prophecy of the light rising
upon Zebulun and Naphtali (Isaiah 8:22 - 9:1) is fulfilled in Jesus' residence at
Capernaum. The territory of these two tribes was the first to be devastated
(733-32 B.C.) at the time of the Assyrian invasion. In order to accommodate
Jesus' move to Capernaum to the prophecy, Matthew speaks of that town as being
"in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali"(Matthew 4;13), whereas it was only in the territory of the latter, and he understands the
sea of the prophecy, the Mediterranean, as the sea of Galilee.
[5] Matthew 4:17 - At the beginning of his preaching Jesus takes up the
words of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) although with a different meaning; in His ministry the kingdom of heaven has
already begun to be present (Matthew 12:28).
[6] Matthew 4:23 - Their synagogues: Matthew usually
designates the Jewish synagogues as their synagogue(s)(Matthew 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54) or, in address to Jews, your synagogues (Matthew 23:34), an indication that He wrote after the break between church and synagogue.
[8] Matthew 4:25 - The Decapolis: a federation of Greek
cities in Palestine, originally ten in number, all but one east of the Jordan.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Dear Humanity,
I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.
And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.
Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.