CCC Cross Reference:
1 Jn 2:16 377, 2514, 2534
Lk 2:38 711
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Reading 1
1 Jn 2:12-17
I am writing to you, children,
because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have conquered the Evil One.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong and the word of God remains in you,
and you have conquered the Evil One.
Do not love the world or the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world,
sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life,
is not from the Father but is from the world.
Yet the world and its enticement are passing away.
But whoever does the will of God remains forever.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 96:7-8a, 8b-9, 10
R. (11a) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts;
worship the LORD in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Gospel
Lk 2:36-40
There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 1 John 2:12-17
I am writing to you, my own children,
whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you, fathers,
who have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I am writing to you, young men,
who have already overcome the Evil One;
I have written to you, children,
because you already know the Father;
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you,
and you have overcome the Evil One.
You must not love this passing world
or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world,
because nothing the world has to offer
– the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in possessions –
could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for,
is coming to an end;
but anyone who does the will of God
remains for ever.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 95(96):7-10
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.
Bring an offering and enter his courts,
worship the Lord in his temple.
O earth, tremble before him.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.
Gospel Luke 2:36-40
There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
6th Day in the Octave of Christmas
From: 1 John 2:12-17
The Apostle's Confidence in the Faithful
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[12] I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his sake
[13] I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
[14] I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Detachment from the World
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[15] Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. [17] And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.
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Commentary:
12-14. These verses, which are a kind of aside, are not easy to translate. The main difficulty has to do with the meaning of the expression, "I am writing (or I insist) because". The Greek conjunction may have an explanatory meaning (as the New Vulgate translates it): "I am writing to you that your sins have been forgiven..."; in which case the Apostle would be trying to build up the Christians' resistance to the arguments of the heretics; as if he were saying "You can be sure that your sins have been forgiven...", that is, that it is you not they, who are Christians.
However, it is also correct in the context to understand it as being the causal. In this way the Apostle is invoking his authority over these Christians, confident that they will listen to him; it is as if he were saying, "I can tell you, and you have the duty and the right to pay heed to me, because your sins have been forgiven...".
The way he addresses his readers, calling them little children, children, fathers, young men, is also open to various interpretations. The first two (little children, children) are usually taken to mean all Christians, without distinction of age or the length of time they have been in the Church; whereas the other two (fathers, young men) would be addressed to those particular groups. However, it is possible that these are simply rhetorical devices, in which case what is said to young people is perfectly applicable to older people, and vice versa; this is the way St Augustine understood it: "Remember that you are fathers; if you forget Him who is from the beginning, you will have lost your paternity. Also see yourselves over and over again as young men: strive to win; win so as to be crowned; be humble in order not to succumb in the struggle" ("In Epist. Joann. Ad Parthos", 2, 7).
"Because you know him who is from the beginning": a reference to Jesus Christ, as distinct from the Father, who appears at the start of v. 14. St John puts emphasis on knowing, which covers not just theoretical knowledge but more particularly a knowledge that comes from faith and love (cf. note on 2: 3-6).
13. "The evil one": the devil is explicitly mentioned several times in this letter; he is the enemy of the children of God (2:14; 5:18); a sinner from the beginning (3:8); and has the world in his power (5:18-19; cf. Jn 16:11).
"The Apostle writes: 'You have overcome the evil one'! And so it is. It is necessary to keep going back to the origin of evil and of sin in the history of mankind and the universe, just as Christ went back to these same roots in the Paschal Mystery of his Cross and Resurrection. There is no need to be afraid to call the first agent of evil by his name -- the Evil One. The strategy which he used and continues to use is that of not revealing himself, so that the evil implanted by him from the beginning may receive its development from man himself, from systems and from relationships between individuals, from classes and nations – so as also to become ever more a 'structural' sin, ever less identifiable as 'personal sin'. In other words, so that man may feel in a certain sense 'freed' from sin but at the same time be ever more deeply immersed in it" (John Paul II, "Letter to Youth", 31 March 1985, 15).
15-17. The term "world" has a number of meanings in Sacred Scripture (cf. note on Jn 17:14-16). Here it has the pejorative sense of enemy of God and man (cf. also note on Jas 1:26-27), and includes everything that is opposed to God – the kingdom of sin. Following Christ involves a radical choice: "No one can serve two masters" (Mt 6:24); "friendship with the world is enmity with God" (Jas 4:4).
"The pride of life": this is the usual translation in Latin. The original Greek says more or less "the arrogance of earthly things"; the two translations are compatible because reliance on material things leads to pride.
The list St John gives here of the signs of a worldly life summarizes everything opposed to fidelity to the love of God. "Lust of the flesh is not limited to disordered sensuality. It also means softness, laziness bent on the easiest, most pleasurable way, any apparent shortcut, even at the expense of fidelity to God [...]. We can and ought to fight always to overcome the lust of the flesh, because, if we are humble, we will always be granted the grace of our Lord.
"St John tells us that the other enemy is the lust of the eyes, a deep-seated avariciousness that leads us to appreciate only what we can touch. Such eyes are glued to earthly things and, consequently, they are blind to supernatural realities. We can, then, use this expression of Sacred Scripture to mean that disordered desire for material things, as well as that deformation which views everything around us -- other people, the circumstances of our life and of our age -- in a merely human way.
"Then the eyes of our soul grow dull. Reason proclaims itself capable of under- standing everything, without the aid of God. This is a subtle temptation which hides behind the power of our intellect, given by our Father God to man so that he might know and love him freely. Seduced by this temptation, the human mind appoints itself the center of the universe, being thrilled with the prospect that 'you will be like God' (Gen 3:5). So filled with love for itself, it turns its back on the love of God.
"In this way does our existence fall prey unconditionally to the third enemy: pride of life. It's not merely a question of passing thoughts of vanity or self-love, it's a state of general conceit. Let's not deceive ourselves, for this is the worst of all evils, the root of every false step. The fight against pride has to be a constant battle, to such an extent that someone once said that pride only disappears twenty-four hours after each of us has died. It is the arrogance of the Pharisee whom God cannot transform because he finds in him the obstacle of self-sufficiency. It is the haughtiness which leads to despising others, to lording it over them, to mistreating them. For 'when pride comes, then comes disgrace' (Prov 11:2)" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 5-6).
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From: Luke 2:22-40
Anna's Prophecy
-------------------------
[36] And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, [37] and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. [38] And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The Childhood of Jesus
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[39] And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. [40] And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.
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Commentary:
36-38. Anna's testimony is very similar to Simeon's; like him, she too has been awaiting the coming of the Messiah her whole life long, in faithful service of God, and she too is rewarded with the joy of seeing Him. "She spoke of Him," that is, of the Child -- praising God in her prayer and exhorting others to believe that this Child is the Messiah.
Thus, the birth of Christ was revealed by three kinds of witnesses in three different ways -- first, by the shepherds, after the angel's announcement; second, by the Magi, who were guided by a star; third, by Simeon and Anna, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
All who, like Simeon and Anna, persevere in piety and in the service of God, no matter how insignificant their lives seem in men's eyes, become instruments the Holy Spirit uses to make Christ known to other. In His plan of redemption God avails of these simple souls to do much good to all mankind.
39. Before their return to Nazareth, St. Matthew tells us (2:13-23), the Holy Family fled to Egypt where they stayed for some time.
40. "Our Lord Jesus Christ as a child, that is, as one clothed in the fragility of human nature, had to grow and become stronger but as the eternal Word of God He had no need to become stronger or to grow. Hence He is rightly described as full of wisdom and grace" (St. Bede, "In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc.").
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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.
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