January 12, 2013

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Saturday after Epiphany
Lectionary: 217

Reading 1 from the first letter of St. John
1 Jn 5:14-21

Beloved:
We have this confidence in him
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

This is the same lesson which St. James teaches about prayer:

James 4:3
King James Version (KJV)
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked him for is ours.

Therefore we can have confidence that we will receive what we request.  If we ask for things righteously.

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life.

We should pray for those whom we know have done something wrong, that they repent.

This is only for those whose sin is not deadly.
There is such a thing as deadly sin,
about which I do not say that you should pray.
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

But if we know that the individual is impenitent about his grievous sins, St. John does not recommend prayer for them.

We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin;
but the one begotten by God he protects,
and the Evil One cannot touch him.

Anyone who is truly born again belongs to God and is protected by God from Satan.

We know that we belong to God,
and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One.

And we belong to God but the world is belongs to the Enemy.

We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true,
in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.

And we who are in the Church are members of the Body of Christ and are in Him.  The True God and eternal life.

Children, be on your guard against idols.

Be careful to worship only God. 

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.or:
R. Alleluia.

Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.

R. The Lord takes delight in his people.or:
R. Alleluia.

Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.

R. The Lord takes delight in his people.or:
R. Alleluia.

Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.

R. The Lord takes delight in his people.or:
R. Alleluia.

We should give thanks in everything and always glorify God.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John
Jn 3:22-30

Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea,
where he spent some time with them baptizing.

Jesus and His disciples were baptizing the people of the region of Judea.

John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there,
and people came to be baptized,
for John had not yet been imprisoned.

St. John the Baptist also was baptizing in that area.

Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew
about ceremonial washings.
So they came to John and said to him,
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan,
to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”

I don't know what the dispute was about between the Jew and the disciple of St. John the Baptist, but the disciple seemed concerned that Jesus was also Baptizing in the area and the people were abandoning St. John.

John answered and said,
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.
You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ,
but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
So this joy of mine has been made complete.
He must increase; I must decrease.”

And St. John humbly stepped aside and admitted the ascendance of Jesus.

Sincerely,

De Maria