January 9, 2021 Saturday after Epiphany

2021년 1월 9일 주님 공현 후 토요일 

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서
요한 1서. 5,14-21
 사랑하는 여러분, 우리가 하느님의 아드님에 14 대하여 가지는 확신은 이것입니다.

우리가 무엇이든지 그분의 뜻에 따라 청하면
그분께서 우리의 청을 들어 주신다는 것입니다.
15 우리가 무엇을 청하든지 그분께서 들어 주신다는 것을 알면,
우리가 그분께 청한 것을 받는다는 것도 압니다.
16 누구든지 자기 형제가 죄를 짓는 것을 볼 때에
그것이 죽을죄가 아니면, 그를 위하여 청하십시오.
하느님께서 그에게 생명을 주실 것입니다.
이는 죽을죄가 아닌 죄를 짓는 이들에게 해당됩니다.
죽을죄가 있는데, 그러한 죄 때문에 간구하라고 말하는 것은 아닙니다.
17 모든 불의는 죄입니다. 그러나 죽을죄가 아닌 것도 있습니다.
18 하느님에게서 태어난 사람은 아무도 죄를 짓지 않는다는 것을 우리는 압니다.
하느님에게서 태어나신 분께서 그를 지켜 주시어
악마가 그에게 손을 대지 못합니다.
19 우리는 하느님께 속한 사람들이고
온 세상은 악마의 지배 아래 놓여 있다는 것을 압니다.
20 또한 하느님의 아드님께서 오시어
우리에게 참되신 분을 알도록 이해력을 주신 것도 압니다.
우리는 참되신 분 안에 있고 그분의 아드님이신 예수 그리스도 안에 있습니다.
이분께서 참하느님이시며 영원한 생명이십니다.
21 자녀 여러분, 우상을 조심하십시오.

복음
요한.3,22-30
 그때에 22 예수님께서는 제자들과 함께 유다 땅으로 가시어,

그곳에서 제자들과 함께 머무르시며 세례를 주셨다.
23 요한도 살림에 가까운 애논에 물이 많아, 거기에서 세례를 주고 있었다.
그리하여 사람들이 가서 세례를 받았다.
24 그때는 요한이 감옥에 갇히기 전이었다.
25 그런데 요한의 제자들과 어떤 유다인 사이에 정결례를 두고 말다툼이 벌어졌다.
26 그래서 그 제자들이 요한에게 가서 말하였다.
“스승님, 요르단 강 건너편에서 스승님과 함께 계시던 분,
스승님께서 증언하신 분, 바로 그분이 세례를 주시는데
사람들이 모두 그분께 가고 있습니다.”
27 그러자 요한이 대답하였다.
“하늘로부터 주어지지 않으면 사람은 아무것도 받을 수 없다.
28 ‘나는 그리스도가 아니라 그분에 앞서 파견된 사람일 따름이다.’
하고 내가 말한 사실에 관하여, 너희 자신이 내 증인이다.
29 신부를 차지하는 이는 신랑이다.
신랑 친구는 신랑의 소리를 들으려고 서 있다가,
그의 목소리를 듣게 되면 크게 기뻐한다. 내 기쁨도 그렇게 충만하다.
30 그분은 커지셔야 하고 나는 작아져야 한다.”

January 9, 2021
Saturday after Epiphany 

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

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

R. (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.

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.”

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 “Christ has no body now but yours.

No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”       - St. Teresa of Avila

Why bother acknowledging that last year was like no other?  No year is like another. But last year, last year so re-ordered our lives that none of us can be sure what comes next. Before last year we made plans, now we try to cope as the sand keeps shifting below our feet.  Before last year, we could predict with some accuracy what was going to happen, so we knew what to expect. Not so with 2020, not so.  2020 brought us up short—it made us face the reality that we are not in control. It shook us in ways we had never been shaken before.  

I think that is why this line from the first reading of John spoke to me so forcefully: “We know that we belong to God.” 

If ever there was a year that I learned I was not in control, it was last year.  From the pandemic that upended all our lives, to the many personal difficulties that confronted me last year, holding on was the best I could do. It was a year that knocked me off my axis and I am still trying to regain my footing.

Reading that I belonged to God was reassuring. It comforted me in a way few things had in the last year. Then, as I reread it again, I noticed it said “We”, not “Julie” or “I”.  We all belong to God.

Given the rancor of last year’s election, it is easy to forget “We” means everyone.  The color of your state doesn’t matter to God because that’s who we all belong to.
Our church is reading Love Your Enemies by Arthur Brooks. It describes how polarized our political processes have become.  Instead of disagreeing over policies, we now vilify people who belong to the “other” party. We label people who don’t agree with us as racist or socialist and feel contempt for them, not connection.

We cannot build the kingdom of God if we are contemptuous of those who think/feel differently than we do.  Continuing this mindset moves us farther away from the work God is calling us to do.  Our communities, our country, our world are all so troubled, we don’t have the luxury to waste our time judging others or wondering “How can those people think that way?”

We must roll up our sleeves and get down to God’s business. “We” all belong to God and “we” need to start acting like that.  But how, how do we bridge this divide?  How do we start seeing someone who could support a candidate we can’t stand as someone who “belongs to God”?

Again, it is the example of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel who can guide us.  John was very clear about his role in ‘preparing’ the way of the Lord.  John knew who he belonged to.  When Jesus began baptizing people, John calmed his disciples by helping them see he (John) was only the best man, not the groom. “He must increase; I must decrease.” 

While John is talking about Jesus, what keeps coming to me is that my ego, my conviction that ‘I am right and others are wrong’, must decrease so that God can increase inside me.  I need to let go of my judgments and bewilderment so I can start seeing those I label as ‘other’ as someone who “belongs to God” too. If I can change my attitude, I will be more open to understanding their point of view. Which could foster dialogue and perhaps eventually move us to seeing our common interests, instead of our differences.

As I ‘decrease’, God can increase in me so I can start seeing with God’s eyes, not my limited, disparaging ones.  And that will free me to focus on the work of being the hands, the feet, and the eyes of Jesus. (St. Teresa of Avila)

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

 

REJOICING AND DECREASING

“He must increase, while I must decrease.” —John 3:30

As we come to the last two days of the Christmas season, we are filled with joy. During Advent, we waited, listening for the Lord (Jn 3:29). In the Christmas season, we have been “overjoyed to hear His voice” (Jn 3:29). With John the Baptizer, we can say: “That is my joy, and it is complete” (Jn 3:29). John’s joy at hearing Jesus’ voice led him to make the resolution: “He [Jesus] must increase, while I must decrease” (Jn 3:30).

We should make the same resolution. After being filled with joy this Christmas season, we should decrease and resolve to devote this year and this life to increase Jesus in our world. If we decrease in wealth and power, all that matters is that Jesus increases as His Body the Church increases in holiness, numbers, and outreach. If we decrease in popularity, we rejoice as long as Jesus is praised. If we decrease in strength by spending ourselves in God’s service, we’re happy to be able to help increase Christ’s kingdom.

Eventually Jesus will increase so much that He with the Father and the Spirit will “be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28), and we will decrease and become like little children (Mk 10:15). Then we’ll be small enough to come into God’s kingdom through the narrow door (see Lk 13:24).

Prayer:  Father, may I joyfully die to myself (see Lk 9:23).

Promise:  “We have this confidence in God: that He hears us whenever we ask for anything according to His will.” —1 Jn 5:14

Praise:  David increased the daily Masses he attended and then began to spend hours weekly in adoration. He received great joy and peace in the process.

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 Do you know the joy of the Lord? When some friends of John the Baptist complain that all the people are now going to Jesus, John in his characteristic humility exclaimed that he was not the Messiah but only the messenger sent to prepare his way. John describes the Messiah as the Bridegroom and himself as the friend of the Bridegroom. The image of the groom delighting in his bride and the joy of the wedding feast is used in the Bible as a sign or symbol of God's covenant love and joy in being united with his people, whom he calls his bride. As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:5).

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit John recognized that Jesus was the anointed Messiah, sent from the Father in heaven to reunite his people to himself. John acted as the groom's best man in arranging the marriage and in making preparations for the marriage feast. John and his disciples now rejoice that the Bridegroom has come to make his bride, the people of God, ready for the marriage feast. The New Testament tells us that Christ's blood which was shed upon the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, seals us in a new covenant between God and his people. The Book of Revelation depicts the final fulfillment and consummation of this new covenant relationship at the marriage feast of the "Lamb and his Bride" in the New Jerusalem (see Revelations 21-22). Do you look with joyful anticipation to the consummation of God's plan for his people at the end of the ages?

Lord Jesus, may I never forget the love you have poured out for me when you shed your blood upon the Cross of Calvary for my sins and for my salvation. May your love always grow in me and your hope fill me with joy as I wait for your return in glory when all of your people will be fully united with you at your heavenly banquet feast in the New Jerusalem.

Psalm 149:1-6,9

1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with timbrel and lyre!
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.
9b This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ is the husband of the church his bride, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"This means he alone is the husband of the church (John 3:29), he is the expectation of the nations, and the prophets removed their sandals while offering to him a union of nuptial grace. He is the bridegroom; I am the friend of the bridegroom. I rejoice because he is coming, because I hear the nuptial chant, because now we do not hear the harsh penalties for sinners, the harsh torments of the law, but the forgiveness of offenses, the cry of joy, the sound of cheerfulness, the rejoicing of the nuptial feast." (excerpt from ON THE PATRIARCHS 4.22)

 

  

More Homilies

January 12, 2019 Saturday after Epiphany