Saturday January 5, 2019
Introduction
Today, we hear Jesus call several of his apostles: “Come, follow me,” he says, and they follow him. They recognize him as their Savior, the Son of God. From now on they will not only have to accept his word but also to live as he lived.
This is why the reading from John’s letter fits in very well: the life of the Christian must be marked by love, for Jesus gave his life for us. Love is not a theory or a mere sentiment but an experience of commitment.
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
when we do not know what to do or how to live,
you refer us to the living example
of Jesus, your Son.
Help us to learn from him,
not in theory but in practice,
what it means to love.
Give us the courage to follow him
by opening with him our hearts
to our brothers and sisters
and in giving ourselves to them in life and in death
by the strength of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.
Reading 1: 1 JN 3:11-21
Beloved:
This is the message you have heard from the beginning:
we should love one another,
unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil One
and slaughtered his brother.
Why did he slaughter him?
Because his own works were evil,
and those of his brother righteous.
Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life
because we love our brothers.
Whoever does not love remains in death.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
The way we came to know love
was that he laid down his life for us;
so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If someone who has worldly means
sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion,
how can the love of God remain in him?
Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God.
Responsorial Psalm 100:1B-2, 3, 4, 5
R. (2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
The LORD is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.
Today a great light has come upon the earth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: JN 1:43-51
Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip.
And Jesus said to him, "Follow me."
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see the sky opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Intercessions
– Lord, you have seen us in our struggles, in our plodding attempts to follow you. Keep us in your love, we pray:
– Lord, you have seen how we are often blind to the needs of the poor and the downtrodden. Open our eyes and hearts, we pray:
– Lord, you know how often words of love are on our lips. Help us to make them come true in our actions, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, loving Father,
you share with us these gifts of bread and wine
and in them you will give us
your Son, Jesus Christ.
May we learn from you and your Son
to share what we have
with people in need
and with our gifts our very selves.
May our love be not just empty words
but something real and active,
on account of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, loving Father,
in this Eucharistic celebration
we have encountered your Son
as our Lord and Savior.
He has seen us and he loves us.
May we live as we believe,
that there be no deceit in us,
but that we follow your Son
on the road of self-giving love,
for he is our Lord for ever.
Blessing
The Lord sees us where we are and as we are, people mostly full of good will but full of limitations. He sees us, not to police us but to love us. May Almighty God bless us, the Farther, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Nazareth was a nondescript, dusty trade-route town in northern Palestine’s region of Galilee. Not only were there no expectations of a messiah from there, there were hardly any expectations there at all! Nathanael’s question in today’s Gospel is not surprising: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” The answer came to him from Jesus, who describes a moment in his life that this rabbi could never have known. In a profound expres¬sion of faith, Nathanael recognizes the Nazarene as both Messiah and Son of God.
Jesus’ place of origin was not the only unusual thing about him. His teaching of unconditional love was equally remarkable and challenging. In today’s first reading from John, the word love appears six times. It is seen as the sole criterion by which the Christian is recognized. Hatred brings nothing but chaos and dis¬order, as the life of Cain amply illustrates. With the murder of his brother, Cain unleashed a dreaded form of hatred. Hatred, how¬ever, can either express itself in actions or fester internally. And as the epistle makes clear, there are lesser forms of hatred: dislike, contempt, abuse, and rejection, to mention but a few. They have no place in the Christian life.
Christ has given the supreme example of love in his laying down his life for us. John does not exclude the possibility of a Christian having to do the same. But other forms of love are given prominence: peacemaking, sharing, and a sense of concern for others are a few of the examples cited.
We generally take our failures of unkindness rather lightly. But on the scale of things they are probably not that insignificant. There is no virtue in the scriptures given such prominence, no clearer sign of being a disciple of Christ. If we disregard the sig¬nificance of our lack of charity, then the luster of Christianity will be lost. Do I have to make that unkind remark? Why can’t I find room in my schedule for that person’s need? Do I realize the pain my aloofness can cause?
“Behold these Christians,” a nonbeliever once said, “how they love one another.”
Points to Ponder
The faith of Nathanael
Forms of hatred
Expressions of love.
