Saturday January 8

Saturday After Epiphany

Belonging to God in Jesus Christ

 

Introduction

         In a sort of profession of faith, the apostle John sums up his letter. We belong to God on account of Jesus Christ. He has brought us eternal life; this life does not tolerate sin; because we live in him, he hears our prayers.

         John the Baptist bears the same witness: we belong to Christ as the bride to the bridegroom; our life must be identified with his, his life must grow in us.

         In this Eucharist, may the Lord let us share more deeply in his life.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord, God of life,
we belong fully to you
through your Son Jesus Christ.
In him you have called us to real life,
free, expansive, reaching beyond death.
Help us to develop this life
with all its potentials
and to treasure it as a trust
not to be kept to ourselves
but to be shared as a gift
with all those around us.
Let your Son live and grow in us
now and for ever.

 

Reading 1: 1 Jn 5:14-21

Beloved:
We have this confidence in him
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
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.
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life.
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.

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.
We know that we belong to God,
and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One.
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.
Children, be on your guard against idols.

 

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

(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.

 

Alleluia: Mt 4:16

Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Jn 3:22-30

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

 

Intercessions

–       That the Church may continue with compassion the task of healing of Jesus our Lord, that the sick may be comforted, the downtrodden set free, and the poor and the weak be protected, we pray:

–       That in our Christian communities we may be concerned about one another as the Lord is solicitous about us, and that we may enrich one another with every good gift of heart and mind, we pray:

–       That those whose faith has been shaken by the changes in the Church and in the world, may learn to trust again in the Lord and find inner peace, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

We bring before you, loving Father,
these gifts of bread and wine,
which come from your own hand.
They are the signs of life and growth.
Open our hearts to the depth
of the life of Jesus, your Son,
that our life, commonplace as it is,
may be rich and full
with the goodness and warmth of Jesus.
May thus our life become
a hymn of praise and thanks to you
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, loving Father,
our sharing in this Eucharist
has borne witness to our living faith
in the person and life of your Son.
May his presence among us not leave us indifferent
but commit us to break the chains of evil
and to let his justice and loyal love
grow in us and in the world.
We are confident that you will hear our prayer
on account of him who lives in us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

With John the Baptist may we say: may we decrease, that is, consider ourselves less important, but may the Lord Jesus increase and grow in us, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

The Signifier and the Signified

John the Baptist was the signifier (= the voice) pointing to the signified (= Christ). And once the signified arrives, the signifier must retreat. John knew this very well and played his role to perfection. “He must increase, and I must decrease,” do did John declare, so did he carry it out; and he had no regrets doing so, only sense of fulfilment. Unfortunately, many signifiers in the spiritual world have difficulty ceding the place to the signified when the latter arrives or people arrive at the signified. There is a pleasure in being the focus of attention, and hence, it is a real temptation to delay the arrival of the signified or even block it. Dying to self is a hard act. John practised this ars moriendi, the art of dying. No wonder Jesus would say later that there was no one among those born of woman greater than John!

 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF

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