God's Word from 26th December

Wednesday 26 December 2012

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First reading

Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’

Yesterday we celebrated the birth into this world of God’s Son, Jesus. He is the world’s Saviour. Today we celebrate the birth into the Kingdom of God of Stephen, the first of those who were saved by Jesus and were a witness to Jesus by giving his life. He is an example of one filled with the Holy Spirit.

Psalm

Psalm 30:3-4,6,8,16-17

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Be a rock of refuge for me,

a mighty stronghold to save me,

for you are my rock, my stronghold.

For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

As for me, I trust in the Lord:

let me be glad and rejoice in your love.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

My life is in your hands, deliver me

from the hands of those who hate me.

Let your face shine on your servant.

Save me in your love.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

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Gospel Acclamation

Ps117:26,27

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord:

the Lord God is our light.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Matthew 10:17-22

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.’

Jesus Gives Peace under All Circumstances

Jesus, though Creator of the world, as our High Priest shared the joys and sorrows of life. As a lamb among wolves, men persecuted and killed him. This was the response of the world to the love and kindness of God shown in Christ. The same fate awaits those who follow in his footsteps. However, we are not to be afraid. Jesus has overcome the world and although the world can do us some physical harm, it cannot touch our spirit. The Spirit of God will be in us and where the Spirit is there is Jesus. If we have Jesus in our heart, then we will have peace. The victor’s crown goes to the person who endures to the end, as Jesus did to his death on the Cross. The Resurrection was his vindication. It will be ours too. Do you experience Jesus as the Victor in your life?

Thursday 27 December 2012

First reading

1 John 1:1-4

Something which has existed since the beginning,

that we have heard,

and we have seen with our own eyes;

that we have watched

and touched with our hands:

the Word, who is life –

this is our subject.

That life was made visible:

we saw it and we are giving our testimony,

telling you of the eternal life

which was with the Father and has been made visible to us.

What we have seen and heard

we are telling you

so that you too may be in union with us,

as we are in union

with the Father

and with his Son Jesus Christ.

We are writing this to you to make our own joy complete.

Our faith is not based on a book or on the imagination of some prophet. It is based on the real existence of the Son of God in Jesus. Jesus is someone who actually lived. His disciples knew him as we know one another. After his Resurrection they continued to have an experience of him so that they were convinced that he was alive and risen. This transforming experience has been handed on from generation to generation. Each of us experiences Jesus in our lives and we hand on this experience to the next generation.

Psalm

Psalm 96:1-2,5-6,11-12

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,

let all the coastlands be glad.

Cloud and darkness are his raiment;

his throne, justice and right.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

The mountains melt like wax

before the Lord of all the earth.

The skies proclaim his justice;

all peoples see his glory.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

Light shines forth for the just

and joy for the upright of heart.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord;

give glory to his holy name.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

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Gospel Acclamation

cf.Te Deum

Alleluia, alleluia!

We praise you, O God,

we acknowledge you to be the Lord.

The glorious company of the apostles praise you, O Lord.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

John 20:2-8

On the first day of the week Mary of Magdala came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.

Love for Jesus is All Important

John wrote his Gospel so that you may believe and in believing have eternal life. He is the one who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper. His Gospel stresses the need to love and be one with Jesus. It is love for Jesus, which is all-important. It is love for Jesus that gives us the faith to believe in him and to obey his Commandments. Jesus will then reveal himself to us. Peter and the Beloved Disciple run to the tomb. Love gets there first but waits for authority to arrive. Authority enters and sees everything but without understanding. Love enters and sees the tomb and immediately believes that Jesus is risen. Authority in the Church without love is sterile. Love without authority gets lost. Both are necessary for the Church to flourish. Authority is temporary while love is eternal. Are you a beloved disciple who recognizes Jesus?

Friday 28 December 2012

First reading

1 John 1:5-2:2

This is what we have heard from Jesus Christ,

and the message that we are announcing to you:

God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.

If we say that we are in union with God

while we are living in darkness,

we are lying because we are not living the truth.

But if we live our lives in the light,

as he is in the light,

we are in union with one another,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son,

purifies us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin in us;

we are deceiving ourselves

and refusing to admit the truth;

but if we acknowledge our sins,

then God who is faithful and just

will forgive our sins and purify us

from everything that is wrong.

To say that we have never sinned

is to call God a liar

and to show that his word is not in us.

I am writing this, my children,

to stop you sinning;

but if anyone should sin,

we have our advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ, who is just;

he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away,

and not only ours,

but the whole world’s.

God is love and we are to live in love. Christ Jesus is the God of Love in human form. Until I love as he does, then I will always be imperfect. Sin is to fail in love. We do this constantly and so must always ask for forgiveness. However, Jesus is our advocate. He is a High Priest who sympathises with our weakness since he has experienced human life in this world.

Psalm

Psalm 123:2-5,7-8

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

If the Lord had not been on our side

when men rose up against us,

then would they have swallowed us alive

when their anger was kindled.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Then would the waters have engulfed us,

the torrent gone over us;

over our head would have swept

the raging waters.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Indeed the snare has been broken

and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

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Gospel Acclamation

cf.Te Deum

Alleluia, alleluia!

We praise you, O God,

we acknowledge you to be the Lord;

the noble army of martyrs praise you, O Lord.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Matthew 2:13-18

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:

A voice was heard in Ramah,

sobbing and loudly lamenting:

it was Rachel weeping for her children,

refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

Understanding Jesus through the Old Testament

Jesus, the Messiah, relives the history of his people, suffering with them. Like them, he goes to Egypt for safety. As Pharaoh tried to kill Moses, so Herod tries to kill Jesus. Rachel, buried near Bethlehem, weeps for the loss of her children killed by Herod. Matthew sees the word in Hosea, "Out of Egypt I have called my son" fulfilled in Jesus. In Matthew’s infancy story, we not only hear echoes of the history of the people of Israel, but we also see an outline of Jesus’ own life. The chief priests and rulers of Palestine reject him while the gentiles accept him. The children, victims of the fear and injustice of Herod died and Jesus lived. Jesus, victim of humanity’s sin died on the Cross and all humanity now lives forever. He is the Holy Innocent One. Where are you in the drama of Christ’s life?

Saturday 29 December 2012

First reading

1 John 2:3-11

We can be sure that we know God

only by keeping his commandments.

Anyone who says, ‘I know him’,

and does not keep his commandments,

is a liar,

refusing to admit the truth.

But when anyone does obey what he has said,

God’s love comes to perfection in him.

We can be sure that we are in God

only when the one who claims to be living in him

is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.

My dear people,

this is not a new commandment that I am writing to tell you,

but an old commandment

that you were given from the beginning,

the original commandment which was the message brought to you.

Yet in another way, what I am writing to you,

and what is being carried out in your lives as it was in his,

is a new commandment;

because the night is over

and the real light is already shining.

Anyone who claims to be in the light

but hates his brother

is still in the dark.

But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light

and need not be afraid of stumbling;

unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness,

not knowing where he is going,

because it is too dark to see.

John insists that it is not those who say 'Lord, Lord' who will enter heaven. We have show our love for God by loving others in word and deed. Jesus stressed the need to forgive others, to help the poor and suffering, to enlighten the ignorant and to bring people to experience the goodness of God in him.

Psalm

Psalm 95:1-3,5-6

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

O sing a new song to the Lord,

sing to the Lord all the earth.

O sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Proclaim his help day by day,

tell among the nations his glory

and his wonders among all the peoples.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

It was the Lord who made the heavens,

his are majesty and state and power

and splendour in his holy place.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

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Gospel Acclamation

Jn1:14,12

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

Alleluia, alleluia!

A light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Luke 2:22-35

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,

just as you promised;

because my eyes have seen the salvation

which you have prepared for all the nations to see,

a light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

The stories of Jesus' childhood are not just lovely stories that had been remembered about him. Luke is giving us an overture to the Gospel. the 'poor of Yahweh' symbolised by Simeon Anna will accept Jesus as Messiah. They are poor and insignificant in the eyes of the great ones of the world, but they were the ones full of the Spirit and welcomed Jesus. Jesus too has come as one of them. His family is poor - they only offer turtle doves and not a lamb. God is to be found in the insignificant of this world. Simeon notes that Jesus is not only for Israel. He will bring salvation to all the nations and will be light of the world. Yet he will be rejected by many and a sword will pierce Mary's heart. This is not so much the pain that the rejection of Jesus will cause her, but she too lives in the darkness of faith and will have to make a decision in faith to stand by her Son. This will reveal her true spirit. Do you follow Simeon, Anna and Mary is choosing Jesus even at the cost of pain and suffering?