Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 3rd January, 2024
01-03 Before Epiphany
The whole life of Jesus will show clearly how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power.
Optional Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus and St Munchin, bishop
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St John 2:29, 3:6
Theme: Anyone who lives in God does not sin.
You know that God is righteous –
then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous has been begotten by him.
Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge him,
therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the children of God
but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.
Surely everyone who entertains this hope
must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.
Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, because to sin is to break the law.
Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin; anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 97
Response All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
1. Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation. Response
2. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord all the earth, ring out your joy. Response
3. Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn acclaim the King, the Lord. Response
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
A hallowed day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, worship the Lord, for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.
Alleluia!
or
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 1:29-34 Glory to you, O Lord.
Look, there is the lamb of God.
The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said,
‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’
John also declared,
‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me,
“The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit”.‘
‘Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
****************************
Gospel Reflection 3rd Jan before Epiphany John 1:29–34
It seems that John the Baptist had an aversion to saying, ‘Look at me’. He was very clear that his calling from God was to make a very different statement, ‘Look at him’, ‘Look at Jesus’. He declares in today’s gospel reading, ‘It was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water’. John was a very impressive figure. Many people went out to him in the wilderness and looked to him. He had his own followers. Yet, he consistently deflected people’s vision away from himself towards the one who, as he states in our gospel reading, ‘ranks before me because he existed before me’. His opening words in that reading are ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. ‘Look at him’, he is saying, ‘Go to him and follow him’. Even though in our culture many people are saying in a very forceful way, ‘Look at me’, and, by implication, ‘Be like me’, the voice of John the Baptist continues to sound forth calling upon us to look at Jesus, to go to him and become like him. Having looked upon the Lord and come to him, John the Baptist would be very clear that there is a further step we need to take and that is the step of witnessing to the one upon whom we have looked, to whom we have come and whom we have received into our lives. John the Baptist was one of the great witnesses to Jesus. He can inspire us to live lives that in some way or other point to the Lord, lives that witness to the values that he lived and died for, the values of God’s kingdom.
________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
