January 6
Thursday after Epiphany
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM - Maria Arnesano Musto / Flavia Musto
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
1 John 4:19–5:4
Beloved, we love God because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God, and everyone who loves the Father loves also the one begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 72:1-2, 14 and 15bc, 17
R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
From fraud and violence he shall redeem them,
and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
May they be prayed for continually;
day by day shall they bless him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Gospel Acclamation
Luke 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Luke 4:14-22
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
“Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”
Reflection
In today’s first reading, a very important thought is brought up by St. John the Evangelist. He makes the point that if we hate our brother who we can see, how can we love God who we have not seen? If we want to love God, we need to spend some time learning to love our brothers and sisters in this world. If we truly look at the situation that is going on in the world, we can recognize that there are a lot of people who say that they love God but show nothing but anger and hate for other people. We see this in racial divisions, in gender abuse, in politics and even in religion, where people often show disdain for those of other faiths.
Our gospel reading shows how Jesus begins his first public announcement of his status as the Messiah. He reads the prophecy from Isaiah which speaks of the good things that will be produced in the coming of the Lord. The poor hear good news, the captive is set free, the blind recover their sight. Jesus speaks with eloquence about the Kingdom of God and people are impressed. Sadly, these are the same people who will call for the crucifixion of Jesus when prompted by the Sanhedrin. We might ask about the love they have in their hearts if it is so easy for them to go from love and acceptance to demanding the destruction of another human being.
If we want to be followers of God, we must keep our hearts open to all people. If we show the conditional love that is common in the world, then who is it that we follow? Our love must be something that embraces all people, regardless of color, creed, or orientation. If we truly follow God, we can do no less.
Stay strong,
Deacon Dare
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