DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JANUARY 6, 2025

MONDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT ANDRÉ BESSETTE, RELIGIOUS)

FIRST READING

1 JOHN 3:22--4:6

22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us. 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits[a] to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 2:7-8, 10-12

Response: I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.

I will tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, “You are my son,
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.

R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling kiss his feet,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
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GOSPEL

From darkness and death to light and life

MATTHEW 4:12-17, 23-25 OR (MATTHEW 2:1-12)

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles -- 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

23 And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The true light of revelation to the Gentiles, by Chromatius (died 406 AD)

"The Evangelist commemorated in this passage the prophet's words: 'Beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light' (Matthew 4:15-16) In what darkness? Certainly in the profound error of ignorance. What great light did they see? The light concerning which it is written: 'He was the true light that illumines everyone who comes into this world' (John 1:9) This was the light about which the just man Simeon in the Gospel declared, 'A light of revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people Israel' (Luke 2:32). That light had arisen according to what David had announced, saying, 'A light has arisen in the darkness to the upright of heart' (Psalm 112:4).

"Also, Isaiah demonstrated that light about to come for the enlightenment of the church when he said, 'Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you' (Isaiah 60:1). Concerning that light also Daniel noted, 'It reveals the profound and hidden things, knowing those things which are in darkness and the light is with it' (Daniel 2:22), that is, the Son with the Father, for even as the Father is light, so too is the Son light. And David also speaks in the psalm: 'In your light shall we see light' (Psalm 36:9), for the Father is seen in the Son, as the Lord tells us in the Gospel: 'Who sees me, sees the Father' (John 14:9) From the true light, indeed, the true light proceeded, and from the invisible the visible. “He is the image of the invisible God,” as the apostle notes (Colossians 1:15)."

(excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 15.1)

[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."]
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.