DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JANUARY 7, 2023

SATURDAY - CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT RAYMOND OF PEÑAFORT, PRIEST)

FIRST READING

1 JOHN 5:14-21 OR (2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-20)

14 And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. 16 If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal. 18 We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 148(149):1-6, 9 OR (PSALMS 103:1-4, 8-9, 13-14, 17-18)

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.
Or
R. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful!
Let Israel be glad in his Maker,
let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King!

R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Or
R. Alleluia.

Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with timbrel and lyre!
For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.

R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Or
R. Alleluia.

Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute on them the judgment written!
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the LORD!

R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Or
R. Alleluia.
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GOSPEL

Jesus manifested his glory at Cana

JOHN 2:1-11 OR (LUKE 12:35-40)

1 On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. 3 When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. 9 When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Jesus' first miracle manifests the King of Glory, by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.

"'By this sign he made manifest that he was the King of glory (Psalm 24:10), and so the church's bridegroom. He came to the marriage as a common human being, but as Lord of heaven and earth he could convert the elements as he wished. How beautifully appropriate it is that when he began the signs that he would show to mortals while he was still mortal he turned water into wine. [But] when he had become immortal through his resurrection, he began the signs that he would show only to those who were pursuing the goal of immortal life... Therefore, let us love with our whole mind, dearly beloved, the marriage of Christ and the church, which was prefigured then in one city and is now celebrated over the whole earth."

(excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.14)
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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.