Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 4th January, 2024
01-04 before Epiphany
Jesus has come to undo the work of the devil.
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St John 3:7-10
He cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.
My children, do not let anyone lead you astray: to live a holy life is to be holy just as he is holy;
to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil, since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done that the Son of God appeared.
No one who has been begotten by God sins; because God’s seed remains inside him, he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.
In this way we distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil:
anybody not living a holy life and not loving his brother is no child of God’s.
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. Let the sea and all within it, thunder; the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands and the hills ring out their joy at the presence of the Lord. Response
3. For the Lord comes, he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 1:14. 12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
Or Heb 1:1-2
Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in the past and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!
Or
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 1:35-42 Glory to you, O Lord
We have found the Messiah.
On the following day as John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said,
‘Look, there is the lamb of God‘. Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said,
‘What do you want?‘
They answered,
‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher –‘where do you live?’
‘Come and see‘ he replied;
so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.
One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.
Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah‘ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked hard at him and said,
‘You are Simon, son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection 4th Jan. before Epiphany, John 1:35–42
In today’s gospel reading John the Baptist introduced two of his disciples to Jesus, saying to them, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God’. It was because of what John the Baptist said to his two disciples that they began to follow Jesus. Jesus could then speak to them directly, ‘What do you want?’ ‘Come and see’. The Lord wants to speak to each one of us directly, but he often needs others to firstly pave the way. A person of faith takes some initiative towards us, and then we discover the call of the Lord for ourselves. John the Baptist created a space for Jesus to engage directly with his disciples and for them to respond. According to the gospel reading, that pattern then repeated itself. One of John the Baptist’s two disciples was Andrew. Having spent time with Jesus, having developed a personal relationship with Jesus, Andrew then introduced his brother Simon to Jesus. He created a space for Jesus to engage personally with Peter and for Peter to respond. What John the Baptist did for Andrew and what Andrew did for Peter, Peter would go on to do for many others. He created a space for the Lord to relate in a very personal way to others and for them to respond. We can each give thanks for all those who introduced us to the Lord, who played the role in our lives that Andrew played in the life of Peter, that Peter played in the life of many others, and that, later on in John’s gospel, the Samaritan woman played in the life of her townspeople, and that Mary Magdalene played in the life of the other disciples on East Sunday morning. Both these women played a significant role in bringing others to the Lord. Each of us is called to bring others to the Lord, perhaps just one person. We don’t have to be great missionaries to introduce someone to the Lord. Very often our own quiet and faithful witness to the Lord and his way of life will, in time, bear that rich fruit for others.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
