Theme:

Last Day of the Year

Readings:
1 Jn 2:18-21; Ps 96:1-2, 11-12, 13
Jn 1:1-18

Introduction

Today the liturgy fits in very well with the celebration of New Year’s Eve: it both looks forward to the end of time (1^st Reading) and back to the beginning: to the Word that created all and came among people as the living Word, Jesus, to make a new beginning with us. And that’s life: the end of what is past, a new beginning to be made ever anew. It was a mixture of joys shared together and miseries that were lighter when they too were borne together. And a time for which, after all, we are grateful to one another and to God.

A turning point is also a time of hope. The past is gone; we look forward. We say goodbye and we welcome what is coming with hope, for the Lord is with us; we resume our journey together as God’s pilgrim people.

Opening Prayer

Loving Father,
You gave us your Son Jesus Christ
and let him share our poverty.
He brought us grace upon grace,
for all that comes from you is a free gift.
Accept our thanks for the moments
when we accepted your gifts
and shared them with one another.
Accept our thanks for the times
we listened attentively to your Son’s words
and put them into practice.
Help us go forward with hope and joy
with joy and mutual encouragement.
with the companion in life you have given us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Scripture Readings

First Reading: 1 Jn 2:18-21

My dear children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist would come; but several antichrists have already come, by which we know that it is now the last hour.

They went out from us though they did not really belong to us. Had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. So it became clear that not all of us were really ours.

But you have the anointing from the Holy One, so that all of you have true wisdom.

I write to you, not because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you already know it, and lies have nothing in common with the truth.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 96:1-2, 11-12, 13

R Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the Lord.
R Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

The Lord comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

Gospel Reading: Jn 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing came to be.

Whatever has come to be, found life in him, life which for humans was also light. Light that shines in the dark: light that darkness could not overcome.

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him.

He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light. For the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone.

He was already in the world and through him the world was made, the very world that did not know him. He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but all who have received him he empowers to become children of God for they believe in his Name. These are born, but without seed or carnal desire or will of man: they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.

John bore witness to him openly, saying: This is the one who comes after me, but he is already ahead of me for he was before me.

From his fullness we have all received, favor upon favor.

For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made him known: the one who is in and with the Father.

(Commentary)

General Intercessions

In gratitude to our generous Father for all his blessings and graces received in the past year, we pray:

–   For all those with whom we are united in one common friendship and concern, that he may keep us all in his love, we pray:

–   For all whom we have disappointed in the past, for those whom we have hurt or neglected, and for those who have pained and irritated us, we pray:

–   For those who have lost someone dear to them, that their hope in Christ may give them strength; for those who have died this year, that they may live in the Lord’s peace, we pray:

–   And for all of us here, that we may be grateful for life, for all the joys we have experienced, and for one another, we pray:

God, let your Son speak his word among us and live among us, now and for ever.

Prayer over the Gifts

Loving Father,
it is easy for us here to break this bread
and to share it with one another,
to drink this cup and offer it to one another.
As we offer you these gifts
we pray you for strength,
for it is difficult for us the whole year long,
to keep sharing ourselves with one another
to offer our hand to give and receive help
and to forget ourselves for the sake of others.
Let us be always each other’s food and drink
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
in this celebration we have looked back
to the past, to what is done and gone.
With Jesus in our midst
we look now forward to the future.
Let neither the past nor the present, nor the future,
neither joys nor sorrows
ever separate us from him.
Let you Son be the center of our lives
and the bond that binds us to you
and to one another,
in faith, hope and lasting love.
Go with us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

Let us go in the peace of the Lord. May the Lord be with you wherever you go. May he bless your coming and your going, your work and your care, your joys and your suffering. As he blessed you the past year, may he bless you even more in the new year: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

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Gospel Commentary (Tuesday)

The opening of John's gospel closes our year. It is a summary of all that we have pondered and lived by journeying with the liturgy. Like a Creed, it presents, in brief, our Christian faith and the significance of Jesus as the one who reveals God. "No one has ever seen God, but God-the-only-Son made him known, the one who is in and with the Father." Truth and loving-kindness are the gifts Jesus Christ brings. Light of the world, of one being with the Father, he empowers us to become children of God. God's desire is to draw close to us in a way we can understand and respond to. The way God found is Jesus.