January
2, 2016
Memorial
of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the
Church
Saints
of the Day: Saint Basil the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (379), Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (c. 390), Saint Macarius of Alexandria, Achorite (394)
Reading 1
22Beloved:
Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the
Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.[1]
23Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the
Son has the Father as well.
24Let
what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the
beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.[2]
25And this is the promise that He made us: eternal life.
26I
write you these things about those who would deceive you. 27As for you, the anointing
that you received from Him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to
teach you. But His anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not
false; just as it taught you, remain in Him.
28And
now, children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and
not be put to shame by Him at His coming.[3]
Responsorial Psalm
R.
(3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
1Sing
to the LORD a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won
victory for Him, His holy arm.
R.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
2The
LORD has made His salvation known: in the sight of the nations He has revealed His
justice. 3aHe has remembered His kindness and His faithfulness 3btoward the
house of Israel.
R.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
3cAll
the ends of the earth have seen 3dthe salvation by our God. 4Sing joyfully to
the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.
R.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Alleluia
Hebrews 1:1-2
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
In
times past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets: in these last
days, He has spoken to us through His Son.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
19This
is the testimony of John. When the Jews
from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?”[4][5]
20He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”[6]
21So
they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are
you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”[7]
22So
they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” 23He
said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way
of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”[8]
24Some
Pharisees were also sent. 25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are
not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”[9]
26John
answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do
not recognize,[10] 27the one who is coming
after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 28This happened in
Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.[11]
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 John 2:22-23 - Certain gnostics denied that the earthly
Jesus was the Christ; to deny knowledge of the Son is to deny the Father, since
only through the Son has God been fully revealed(John 1:18; 14:8-9).
[2] 1 John 2:24 - Continuity with the apostolic witness as
proclaimed in the prologue is the safeguard of right belief.
[3] 1 John 2:28-29 - Our confidence at His judgment is based
on the daily assurance of salvation. Our actions reflect our true relation to Him.
[4] John 1:19-51 - The testimony of John the Baptist about
the Messiah and Jesus' self-revelation to the first disciples. This section
constitutes the introduction to the gospel proper and is connected with the
prose inserts in the prologue. It develops the major theme of testimony in four
scenes: John's negative testimony about himself; his positive testimony about
Jesus; the revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter; the revelation of Jesus to
Philip and Nathanael.
[5] John 1:19 - The Jews: throughout most of the gospel, the
"Jews" does not refer to the Jewish people as such but to the hostile
authorities, both Pharisees and Sadducees, particularly in Jerusalem, who
refuse to believe in Jesus. The usage reflects the atmosphere, at the end of
the first century, of polemics between church and synagogue, or possibly it
refers to Jews as representative of a hostile world (John 1:10-11).
[6] John 1:20 - Messiah: the anointed agent of Yahweh,
usually considered to be of Davidic descent. See further the footnote on John 1:41.
[7] John 1:21 - Elijah: the Baptist did not claim to be
Elijah returned to earth (compare with Malachi 3:23; Matthew 11:14)
. The Prophet: probably the prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; compare with Acts 3:22).
[8] John 1:23 - This is a repunctuation and reinterpretation
(as in the synoptic gospels and Septuagint) of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40:3 which reads, "A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the
Lord."
[9] John 1:24 - Some Pharisees: other translations, such as
"Now they had been sent from the Pharisees," misunderstand the
grammatical construction. This is a different group from that in John 1:19; the priests
and Levites would have been Sadducees, not Pharisees.
[10] John 1:26 - I baptize with water: the synoptics add
"but He will baptize you with the holy Spirit" (Mark 1:8) or ". . . holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16. John's emphasis is on purification and preparation for a better baptism.
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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.