If the Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday, January 8, the following readings are used for the Mass on January 7.
CCC Cross Reference:
1 Jn 5:14 2778, 2827; 1 Jn 5:16-17 1854; 1 Jn 5:18-19 2852; 1 Jn 5:19 409; 1 Jn 5:20 217
Jn 2:1-12 2618; Jn 2:1-11 1613; Jn 2:1 495; Jn 2:11 486, 1335
Back to SOW II '12
Back to SOW II '17
Back to SOW II '23
FIRST READING
1 John 5:14-21
Beloved:
We have this confidence in God,
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 no one begotten by God sins;
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
Psalm 149:1-2, 3-4, 5 and 6a and 9b
R. (see 4 a) 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
John 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there. ,
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
"They have no wine."
And Jesus said to her,
"Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servers,
"Do whatever he tells you."
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
"Fill the jars with water."
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
"Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter."
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
(although the servers who had drawn the water knew),
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
"Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now."
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading: 1 John 5:14-21
We are quite confident that if we ask the Son of God for anything,
and it is in accordance with his will,
he will hear us;
and, knowing that whatever we may ask, he hears us,
we know that we have already been granted what we asked of him.
If anybody sees his brother commit a sin
that is not a deadly sin,
he has only to pray, and God will give life to the sinner
– not those who commit a deadly sin;
for there is a sin that is death,
and I will not say that you must pray about that.
Every kind of wrong-doing is sin,
but not all sin is deadly.
We know that anyone who has been begotten by God
does not sin,
because the begotten Son of God protects him,
and the Evil One does not touch him.
We know that we belong to God,
but the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One.
We know, too, that the Son of God has come,
and has given us the power
to know the true God.
We are in the true God,
as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God,
this is eternal life.
Children, be on your guard against false gods.
Psalm: Psalm 149:1-6,9
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its Maker,
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let the praise of God be on their lips:
this honour is for all his faithful.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel: John 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said ‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’, and they filled them to the brim. ‘Draw some out now’ he told them ‘and take it to the steward.’ They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said; ‘People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.’
This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
January 7 Christmas Weekday
The Days of Christmas
From: 1 John 5:14-21
Prayer for Sinners
---------------------------
[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 anyone 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.
The Christian's Confidence as a Child of God
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[18] We know that anyone 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.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
13-21. St John's words in v. 13 are evocative of the first epilogue to his Gospel, where he explains why he wrote that book: "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (Jn 20:31). In this verse of the letter, the Apostle stresses the efficacy of faith, which is already an anticipation of eternal life (cf. notes on 1 Jn 3:2; 5:9-12).
His final counsels are designed to strengthen our confidence in prayer and to urge the need for prayer on behalf of sinners (vv. 14-17); they also stress the conviction and confidence that faith in the Son of God gives the believer (vv. 18-21).
14-15. Earlier, the Apostle referred to confidence in prayer and to how we can be sure of receiving what we pray for: that confidence comes from the fact that "we keep his commandments and do what pleases him" (1 Jn 3:22). Now he stresses that God always listens to us, if we ask "according to his will". This condition can be taken in two ways, as St Bede briefly explains: "Insofar as we ask for the things he desires, and insofar as those of us who approach him are as he desires us to be" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc."). The asker therefore needs to strive to live in accordance with God's will, and to identify himself in advance with God's plans. If one does not try to live in keeping with God's commandments, one cannot expect him to listen to one's prayers.
When prayer meets those requirements, "we know that we have obtained the requests made of him", as our Lord himself assured us: "if you ask anything in my name, I will do it" (Jn 14:14). "It is not surprising, then," the Cure of Ars teaches, "that the devil should do everything possible to influence us to give up prayer or to pray badly, because he knows better than we do how terrible it is for hell and how impossible it is that God should refuse us what we ask him for in prayer. How many sinners would get out of sin if they managed to have recourse to prayer!" ("Selected Sermons", Fifth Sunday after Easter).
16-17. "Mortal sin": the meaning of the original text is "sin which leads to death". The gravity of this sin (St John does not specify its exact nature) recalls the gravity of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:31-32) and of the sin of apostasy which Hebrews speaks of (Heb 6:4-8).
The Fathers have interpreted this expression in various ways, referring to different grave sins. In the context of the letter (in the previous chapters St John often speaks about the antichrists and false prophets who "went out" from the community: 2:19) the best interpretation seems to be that of St Bede and St Augustine, who apply it to the sin of the apostate who, in addition, attacks the faith of other Christians. "My view is", St Augustine says, "that the sin unto death is the sin of the brother who, after knowing God by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, attacks brotherly union and in a passion of envy reacts against that very grace by which he was reconciled to God" ("De Sermo Dom. in monte", l, 22, 73).
If St John does not expressly command his readers to pray for these sinners, it does not mean that they are beyond recovery, or that it is useless to pray for them. Pope St Gelasius I teaches: "There is a sin of death for those who persist in that same sin; there is a sin not of death for those who desist from sin. There is, certainly, no sin for the pardon of which the Church does not pray or from which, by the power which was divinely granted to it, it cannot absolve those who desist from it" ("Ne forte").
Referring to this passage of St John, Bl. John Paul II says: "Obviously, the concept of death here is a spiritual death. It is a question of the loss of the true life or 'eternal life', which for John is knowledge of the Father and the Son (cf. Jn 17: 3), and communion and intimacy with them. In that passage the sill that leads to death seems to be the denial of the Son (cf. 1 Jn 2:22), or the worship of false gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:21). At any rate, by this distinction of concepts John seems to wish to emphasize the incalculable seriousness of what constitutes the very essence of sin, namely the rejection of God. This is manifested above all in apostasy and idolatry: repudiating faith in revealed truth and, making certain created realities equal to God, raising them to the status of idols"; and false gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:16-21)."
And after referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:31-32) he adds: "Here of course it is a question of extreme and radical manifestations – rejection of God, rejection of his grace, and therefore opposition to the very source of salvation (cf. St Thomas, "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 1-3) -- these are manifestations whereby a person seems to exclude himself voluntarily from the path of forgiveness. It is to be hoped that very few persist to the end in this attitude of rebellion or even defiance of God. Moreover, God in his merciful love is greater than our hearts, as St John further teaches us (cf. 1 Jn 3:20), and can overcome all our psychological and spiritual resistance. So that, as St Thomas writes, 'considering the omnipotence and mercy of God, no one should despair of the salvation of anyone in this life' ("Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 14, a. 3, ad 1)" ("Reconciliatio et Paenitentia", 17).
18-20. "We know": each of these verses begins this way. He does not mean theoretical knowledge but that understanding that comes from living faith. St John is once again stressing the Christian's joyful confidence, which he has expounding throughout the letter (cf. 2:3-6 and note). This confidence is grounded on three basic truths: 1) he who is born of God does not sin (cf. 1 Jn 3:6-9 and note); 2) "we are of God", and therefore we are particularly free of the world, which is still in the power of the evil one (cf. 4:4; 5:12); 3) the Son of God has become man (cf. 4:2; 5:1). The incarnation of the Word is the central truth which sheds light on the two previous ones, because our supernatural insight is the effect of the Incarnation (v. 20): Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is also eternal life, for only in him can we attain that life.
18. "In this Johannine affirmation", Bl. John Paul II teaches, "there is an indication of hope, based on the divine promises: the Christian has received the guarantee and the necessary strength not to sin. It is not a question therefore of a sinlessness acquired through one's own virtue or even inherent in man, as the Gnostics thought. It is a result of God's action. In order not to sin the Christian has knowledge of God, as St John reminds us in this same passage. But a little earlier he had written: 'No one born of God commits sin; for God's seed [RSV: "nature"] abides in him' (1 Jn 3:9). If by 'God's seed' we understand, as some commentators suggest, Jesus the Son of God, then we can say that in order not to sin, or in order to gain freedom from sin, the Christian has within himself the presence of Christ and the mystery of Christ, which is the mystery of God's loving kindness" ("Reconciliatio et Paentientia", 20).
19. "The whole world is in the power of the evil one": although the Greek term may be neuter and would allow a more abstract translation ("in the power of evil"), it is more consistent with the context to take it in a personal sense. St John is pointing up the contrast between Christ's followers and those of the evil one: whereas the world (in the pejorative sense) is like a slave in the power of the devil, true Christians are in Christ, as free people, with a share in Christ's own life. "We have been born of God through grace and have been reborn in Baptism through faith. On the other hand, those who love the world are in the power of the enemy, be it because they have not yet been liberated from him by the waters of regeneration or because, after their rebirth, they have once more submitted to his rule through sinning" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.").
20. "Him who is true": that is, the only true God as distinct from false gods; the Jews used to refer to God as "the True", without naming him. When St John goes on to say that "we are in him, who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ", he is confessing the divinity of Christ and the fact that he is the only mediator between the Father and mankind.
21. Although at first sight, this formal exhortation may seem surprising, it was appropriate in its time, because these first Christians were living in the midst of a pagan world, and were exposed to the danger of idolatry.
However, St John may be speaking metaphorically: the true danger facing Christians, then and now, is that of following the idols of the heart -- that is, sin; in which case he is giving this final counsel: Keep away from sin, be on guard against those whose fallacious arguments could lead you to sin.
*********************************************************************************************
From: John 2:1-11
The Wedding at Cana
--------------------------------
[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. 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 till now." [11] This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1. Cana in Galilee was probably what is now Kef Kenna, seven kilometers (four miles) north-east of Nazareth.
The first guest to be mentioned is Mary: St Joseph is not mentioned, which cannot be put down to St John's forgetfulness: his silence here and on other occasions in his Gospel leads us to believe that Joseph had already died.
The wedding celebrations lasted quite a while in the East (Gen 29:27; Judg 14: 10, 12, 17; Job 9:12; 10:1). In the course of the celebrations relatives and friends would come to greet the newly-weds; even people passing through could join in the celebration. Wine was regarded as an indispensable element in meals and also helped to create a festive atmosphere. The women looked after the catering: here our Lady would have lent a hand, which was how she realized they were running out of wine.
2. "To show that all states in life are good, [...] Jesus deigned to be born in the pure womb of the Virgin Mary; soon after he was born he received praise from the prophetic lips of Anna, a widow, and, invited in his youth by the betrothed couple, he honored the wedding with the power of his presence" (St Bede, "Hom. 13", for the second Sunday after the Epiphany). Christ's presence at the wedding at Cana is a sign that he blesses love between man and woman joined in marriage: God instituted marriage at the beginning of creation (cf. Gen 1:27-28); Jesus confirmed it and raised it to the dignity of a sacrament (cf. Mt 19:6).
3. In the Fourth Gospel the Mother of Jesus--this is the title St John gives her --appears only twice: once here, and the other time on Calvary (Jn 19:25). This suggests Mary's involvement in the redemption. A number of analogies can be drawn between Cana and Calvary. They are located at the beginning and at the end of Jesus' public life, as if to show that Mary is present in everything that Jesus did. Her title -- Mother -- carries very special tones: Mary acts as Jesus' true Mother at these two points in which his divinity is being revealed. Also, both episodes demonstrate Mary's special solicitude towards everyone: in one case she intercedes when "the hour" has not yet come; in the other she offers the Father the redeeming death of her Son, and accepts the mission Jesus confers on her to be the Mother of all believers, who are represented on Calvary by the beloved disciple.
"In the public life of Jesus Mary appears prominently; at the very beginning when at the marriage feast of Cana, moved with pity, she brought about by her intercession the beginning of the miracles of Jesus the Messiah (cf. John 2:1-11). In the course of her Son's preaching she received the words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond the concerns and ties of flesh and blood, he declared blessed those who heard and kept the word of God (cf. Mk 3:35; Lk 11:27-28) as she was faithfully doing (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood (cf. Jn 19:25), in line with the divine plan, enduring with her only-begotten Son the intensity of his passion, with his sacrifice, associating herself in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a mother to his disciple, with these words: 'Woman, behold thy son' (Jn 19: 26-27)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 58).
4. For the meaning of the words of this verse see the section on our Lady in the "Introduction" above (pp. 35ff). It should also be said that the Gospel account of this dialogue between Jesus and his Mother does not give us his gestures, tone of voice etc.: to us, for example, his answer sounds harsh, as if he were saying, "This is no concern of ours". But that was not the case.
"Woman" is a respectful title, rather like "lady" or "madam"; it is a formal way of speaking. On the Cross Jesus will use the same word with great affection and veneration (Jn 19:26).
[The sentence rendered "What have you to do with me?" (RSV) is the subject of a note in RSVCE which says "while this expression always implies a divergence of view, the precise meaning is to be determined by the context, which here shows that it is not an unqualified rebuttal, still less a rebuke." The Navarre Spanish is the equivalent of "What has it to do with you and me?"] The sentence "What has it to do with you and me?" is an Oriental way of speaking which can have different nuances. Jesus' reply seems to indicate that although in principle it was not part of God's plan for him to use his power to solve the problem the wedding feast had run into, our Lady's request moves him to do precisely that. Also, one could surmise that God's plan envisaged that Jesus should work the miracle at his Mother's request. In any event, God willed that the Revelation of the New Testament should include this important teaching: so influential is our Lady's intercession that God will listen to all petitions made through her; which is why Christian piety, with theological accuracy, has called our Lady "supplicant omnipotence".
"My hour has not yet come": the term "hour" is sometimes used by Jesus to designate the moment of his coming in glory (cf. Jn 5:28), but generally it refers to the time of his passion, death and resurrection (cf. Jn 7:30; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1).
5. Like a good mother, the Virgin Mary knows perfectly well what her son's reply means -- though to us it is ambiguous ("What has it to do with you and me?"): she is confident that Jesus will do something to come to the family's rescue. This is why she tells the servants so specifically to do what Jesus tells them. These words of our Lady can be seen as a permanent invitation to each of us: "in that all Christian holiness consists: for perfect holiness is obeying Christ in all things" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Comm. on St John, in loc.").
We find the same attitude in Bl. John Paul II's prayer at our Lady's shrine at Knock, when he consecrated the Irish people to God: "At this solemn moment we listen with particular attention to your words: "Do whatever my Son tells you". And we wish to respond to your words with all our heart. We wish to do what your Son tells us, what he commands us, for he has the words of eternal life. We wish to carry out and fulfill all that comes from him, all that is contained in the Good News, as our forefathers did for many centuries. [...] Today, therefore, [...] we entrust and consecrate to you, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, our hearts, our consciences, and our works, in order that they may be in keeping with the faith we profess. We entrust and consecrate to you each and every one of those who make up both the community of the Irish people and the community of the People of God living in this land" ("Homily at Knock Shrine", 30 September 1979)."
6. We are talking about 500-700 liters (100-150 gallons) of top quality wine. St John stresses the magnificence of the gift produced by the miracle -- as he also does at the multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6:12-13). One of the signs of the arrival of the Messiah was abundance; here we have the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies: "the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase", as Psalm 85:12 proclaims; "the threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil" (Joel 2:24; cf. Amos 9:13-15). This abundance of material goods is a symbol of the supernatural gifts Christ obtains for us through the Redemption: later on St John highlights our Lord's words: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10; cf. Rom 5:20).
7. "Up to the brim": the evangelist gives us this further piece of information to emphasize the superabundance of the riches of Redemption and also to show how very precisely the servants did what they were told, as if hinting at the importance of docility in fulfilling the will of God, even in small details.
9-10. Jesus works miracles in a magnificent way; for example, in the multiplication of the loaves and fish (cf. Jn 6:10-13) he feeds five thousand men -- who eat as much as they want--and the left-overs fill twelve baskets. In this present miracle he does not change the water into just any wine but into wine of excellent quality.
The Fathers see in this good wine, kept for the end of the celebrations, and in its abundance, a prefiguring of the crowning of the history of salvation: formerly God sent the patriarchs and prophets, but in the fullness of time he sent his own Son, whose teaching perfects the old Revelation and whose grace far exceeds the expectations of the righteous in the Old Testament. They also have seen, in this good wine coming at the end, the reward and joy of eternal life which God grants to those who desire to follow Christ and who have suffered bitterness and contradiction in this life (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St John, in loc.").
11. Before he worked this miracle the disciples already believed that Jesus was the Messiah; but they had too earthbound a concept of his salvific mission. St John testifies here that this miracle was the beginning of a new dimension in their faith; it became much deeper. "At Cana, Mary appears once more as the Virgin in prayer: when she tactfully told her Son of a temporal need, she also obtained an effect of grace, namely, that Jesus, in working the first of his 'signs', confirmed his disciples' faith in him" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 18).
"Why are Mary's prayers so effective with God? The prayers of the saints are prayers of servants, whereas Mary's are a Mother's prayer, whence flows their efficacy and their authority; and since Jesus has immense love for his Mother, she cannot pray without being listened to. [...]
"To understand Mary's great goodness, let us remember what the Gospel says. [...] There was a shortage of wine, which naturally worried the married couple. No one asks the Blessed Virgin to intervene and request her Son to come to the rescue of the couple. But Mary's heart cannot but take pity on the unfortunate couple [...]; it stirs her to act as intercessor and ask her Son for the miracle, even though no one asks her to. [...] If our Lady acted like this without being asked, what would she not have done if they actually asked her to intervene?" (St Alphonsus, "Sunday Sermons", 48).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
No comments:
Post a Comment