Sunday, January 5, 2014

January 6, 2014

Lectionary: 212
Reading 1 1 JN 3:22-4:6

Beloved:
We receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit whom he gave us.

St. John reveals the secret to answered prayers. "We received from him whatever we ask because we keep his commandments".

Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh
belongs to God,
and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
does not belong to God.

How does one acknowledge Jesus Christ? Is it by saying, "Jesus Christ is Lord"? Jesus Christ himself denies this. He says in the Gospel of Matthew, "many will call me Lord, Lord! Will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 7:21)." 
It is not those who claim to be followers of Christ who are actually followers of Christ. It is those who keep the commandments who are followers of Christ. This is true whether they know Christ or not.
This is the spirit of the antichrist
who, as you heard, is to come,
but in fact is already in the world.
You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.

We belong to Christ who has been marked in the sacrament of baptism. The grace poured out to us in the sacraments gives of this strength to overcome the evil one.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And Jesus Christ said, "he who listens to you, listens to me and the one who sent me (Matt 10:40)."
Responsorial Psalm PS 2:7BC-8, 10-12A

R. (8ab) I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.”

R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
And now, O kings, give heed;
take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before him;
with trembling rejoice.

R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
Jesus Christ is the son of God to whom God the Father has given the entire world. In turn, Jesus Christ has given the entire world to the Church. 
Gospel MT 4:12-17, 23-25

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness
have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
When St. John was arrested, Jesus Christ went to the land of the Gentiles.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
From that point, Jesus took up St. John's battle cry, "Repent!"
He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people.
His fame spread to all of Syria,
and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases
and racked with pain,
those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,
and he cured them.
And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea,

and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
He went around teaching far and wide, and great crowds followed him.

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