January
6, 2016
Wednesday
after Epiphany
Saint
of the Day: Saint Andre Bessette, C.S.C. (1845-1937)
Reading 1
11Beloved,
if God so loved us, we also must love one another. 12No
one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and His
love is brought to perfection in us.[1]
13This
is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us, that He has given us of His Spirit.[2] 14Moreover,
we have seen and testify that
the Father sent His Son as Savior of the world.
15Whoever
acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God
remains in Him and He in God. 16We
have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God
is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in Him.
17In
this is love brought to perfection among us, that
we have confidence on the day of judgment because
as He is, so are we in this world. 18There
is no fear in love, but
perfect love drives out fear because
fear has to do with punishment, and
so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
Responsorial Psalm
1O
God, with your judgment endow the king, and
with your justice, the king’s son;
2He
shall govern your people with justice and
your afflicted ones with judgment.
R.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
10The
kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the
kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
R.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
12For He shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and
the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13He
shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the
lives of the poor He shall save.
R.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Alleluia
see 1 Timothy 3:16
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory
to you, O Christ, proclaimed to the Gentiles.
Glory
to you, O Christ, believed in throughout the world.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
45After
the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied, Jesus made His disciples get
into the boat and precede Him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while He
dismissed the crowd.[3] 46And
when He had taken leave of them, He went off to the mountain to pray.[4]
47When it
was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and He was alone on shore. 48Then
He saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night, He came toward them walking on the sea. He
meant to pass by them.[5]
49But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and
cried out. 50They
had all seen Him and were terrified. But at once He spoke with them, “Take
courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”[6] 51He got into the boat with them and the
wind died down. They
were completely astounded. 52They
had not understood the incident of the loaves. On
the contrary, their hearts were hardened.[7]
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 John 4:7-12 - Love as we share in
it testifies to the nature of God and to His presence in our lives. One who
loves shows that one is a child of God and knows God, for God's very being is
love; one without love is without God. The revelation of the nature of God's
love is found in the free gift of His Son to us, so that we may share life with
God and be delivered from our sins. The love we have for one another must be of
the same sort: authentic, merciful; this unique Christian love is our proof
that we know God and can "see" the invisible God.
[2] 1 John 4:13-21 - The testimony of the
Spirit and that of faith join the testimony of love to confirm our knowledge of
God. Our love is grounded in the confession of Jesus as the Son of God and the
example of God's love for us. Christian life is founded on the knowledge of God
as love and on his continuing presence that relieves us from fear of judgment (1 John 4:16-18). What Christ is gives us confidence, even as we live and
love in this world. Yet Christian love is not abstract but lived in the
concrete manner of love for one another.
[3] Mark 6:45 - To the other side toward
Bethsaida: a village at the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
[4] Mark
6:46 - He went off to the mountain to pray: see Mark 1:35-38. In John 6:15 Jesus withdrew to evade any involvement in the false
messianic hopes of the multitude.
[6] Mark
6:50 -
It is I, do not be afraid!: literally, "I am." This may reflect the
divine revelatory formula of Exodus 3:14; ⇒
Isaiah 41::4, 10, 14 ; 43:1-3, 10, 13. Mark implies the hidden identity of Jesus as Son of
God.
[7] Mark 6:52 - They had not understood .
. . the loaves: the revelatory character of this sign and that of the walking
on the sea completely escaped the disciples. Their hearts were hardened: in Mark 3:5-6 hardness of heart was attributed to those who did not
accept Jesus and plotted his death. Here the same disposition prevents the
disciples from comprehending Jesus' self-revelation through signs; compare with Mark 8:17.
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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.