December
28, 2015
Feast
of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Saint
of the Day: Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Feast)
Reading 1
1John
1:5Beloved: This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ and
proclaim to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.[1] 1John
1:6If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” while we continue to walk in
darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.
1John
1:7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, then we have fellowship
with one another, and the Blood of His Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
1John
1:8If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us.[2] 1John
1:9If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our
sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
1John
1:10If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and His word is not in
us. My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But
if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous one. 1John 2:2He is expiation for our sins, and not for
our sins only but for those of the whole world.
Responsorial Psalm
2Had
not the LORD been with us - When men rose up against us, 3then would they have
swallowed us alive, when their fury was inflamed against us.
R.
Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
4Then
would the waters have overwhelmed us; 5The torrent would have swept over us; over
us then would have swept the raging waters.
R.
Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
7cBroken
was the snare, 7dand we were freed. 8Our help is in the name of the LORD, who
made heaven and earth.
R.
Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Alleluia
see Te Deum
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
We
praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the white robed army of martyrs
praise you.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
13When
the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream and said, “Rise, take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay
there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy Him.”[3][4][5]
14Joseph
rose and took the child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt. 15He
stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the
prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son.[6]
16When
Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He
ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years
old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. 17Then
was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:
18A
voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her
children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.[7]
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 John 1:5-7 - Light is to be understood here as truth and
goodness; darkness here is error and depravity (compare with john 3:19-21; 17:17; Ephesians 5:8). To walk in light or darkness is to
live according to truth or error, not merely intellectual but moral as well.
Fellowship with God and with one another consists in a life according to the
truth as found in God and in Christ.
[2] 1 John 1:8-10 - Denial of the condition of sin is
self-deception and even contradictory of divine revelation; there is also the
continual possibility of sin's recurrence. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin
through Christ are assured through acknowledgment of them and repentance.
[3] Matthew 2:13-23 - Biblical and
non-biblical traditions about Moses are here applied to the child Jesus, though
the dominant Old Testament type is not Moses but Israel (Matthew 2:15).
[4] Matthew 2:13 - Flee to Egypt: Egypt
was a traditional place of refuge for those fleeing from danger in Palestine
(see 1 Kings 11;40; Jeremiah 26:21), but the main reason why the child is to be taken to Egypt is
that he may relive the Exodus experience of Israel.
[6] Matthew 2:15 - The fulfillment
citation is taken from Hosea 11:1. Israel, God's son, was called out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus; Jesus,
the Son of God, will similarly be called out of that land in a new exodus. The
father-son relationship between God and the nation is set in a higher key. Here
the son is not a group adopted as "son of God," but the child who, as
conceived by the holy Spirit, stands in unique relation to God. He is son of
David and of Abraham, of Mary and of Joseph, but, above all, of God.
[7] Matthew 2:18 - Jeremiah 31:15 portrays Rachel, wife
of the patriarch Jacob, weeping for her children taken into exile at the time
of the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom (722-21 B.C.). Bethlehem was
traditionally identified with Ephrath, the place near which Rachel was buried
(see Genesis 35:19; 48:7), and the mourning of Rachel is here applied to her lost children of a later
age. Ramah: about six miles north of Jerusalem. The lamentation of Rachel is so
great as to be heard at a far distance.
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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.