DECEMBER 31, 2016 : THE SEVENTH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Lectionary: 204

Reading 11 JN 2:18-21

Children, it is the last hour; 
and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,
so now many antichrists have appeared. 
Thus we know this is the last hour. 
They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;
if they had been, they would have remained with us. 
Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. 
But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,
and you all have knowledge. 
I write to you not because you do not know the truth 
but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.

Responsorial PsalmPS 96:1-2, 11-12, 13

R. (11a) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day. 
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
The LORD comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

AlleluiaJN 1:14A, 12A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
To those who accepted him
he gave power to become the children of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, 
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 
to those who believe in his name, 
who were born not by natural generation 
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision 
but of God.

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son,
full of grace and truth.

John testified to him and cried out, saying, 
“This was he of whom I said, 
‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me 
because he existed before me.’”
From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses, 
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, 
has revealed him.

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"

Why does John the Evangelist begin his Gospel account with a description of the Word of God and the creation of the universe and humankind? How might the beginning of John's Gospel be linked with the beginning of the first book of Genesis (John 1:1-3 and Genesis 1:1-3)? The "word of God" was a common expression among the Jews. God’s word in the Old Testament Scriptures is an active, creative, and dynamic word. "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made" (Psalm 33:6). "He sends forth his commands to the earth; his word runs swiftly" (Psalm 147:15). "Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces" (Jeremiah 23:29)? 

The eternal Word leaped down from heaven
The writer of the (deutero-canonical) Book of Wisdom addresses God as the one who "made all things by your word" (Wisdom 9:1). God’s word is also equated with his wisdom. "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth" (Proverbs 3:19). The Book of Wisdom describes "wisdom" as God's eternal, creative, and illuminating power. Both "word" and "wisdom" are seen as one and the same. "For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior carrying the sharp sword of your authentic command" (deutero-canonical Book of Wisdom 18:14-16).

Truly man and truly God
John describes Jesus as God's creative, life-giving and light-giving Word that has come to earth in human form. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Jesus is the wisdom and power of God which created the world and sustains it who assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. Jesus became truly man while remaining truly God. "What he was, he remained, and what he was not he assumed" (from an early church antiphon for morning prayer). Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother. From the time of the Apostles the Christian faith has insisted on the incarnation of God's Son "who has come in the flesh" (1 John 4:2)
.
Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great early church fathers (330-395 AD) wrote: 

Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again.  We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator.  Are these things minor or insignificant?  Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?

Christians never cease proclaiming anew the wonder of the Incarnation. The Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. The Son of God ...worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved.  Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin (Gaudium et Spes).

We become partakers of Christ's divine nature
If we are going to behold the glory of God we will do it through Jesus Christ. Jesus became the partaker of our humanity so we could be partakers of his divinity (2 Peter 1:4). God's purpose for us, even from the beginning of his creation, is that we would be fully united with him. When Jesus comes God is made known as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By our being united in Jesus, God becomes our Father and we become his sons and daughters. Do you thank the Father for sending his only begotten Son to redeem you and to share with you his glory?

"Almighty God and Father of light, your eternal Word leaped down from heaven in the silent watches of the night. Open our hearts to receive his life and increase our vision with the rising of dawn, that our lives may be filled with his glory and his peace.”

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The first-fruits of the Gospels, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

"I think that John's Gospel, which you have enjoined us to examine to the best of our ability, is the first-fruits of the Gospels. It speaks of him whose descent is traced and begins from him who is without a genealogy... The greater and more perfect expressions concerning Jesus are reserved for the one who leaned on Jesus' breast. For none of the other Gospels manifested his divinity as fully as John when he presented him saying, 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:42), 'I am the way and the truth and the life' (John 14:6), 'I am the resurrection' (John 11:25), 'I am the door' (John 10:9), 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11)... We might dare say then that the Gospels are the first-fruits of all Scripture but that the first-fruits of the Gospels is that according to John whose meaning no one can understand who has not leaned on Jesus' breast or received Mary from Jesus to be his mother also." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.21–23)

www.dailyscripture.net

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, JOHN 1:1-18
Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord
(1 John 2:18-21; Psalm 96)

KEY VERSE: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (v 1).
TO KNOW: By the time John wrote his gospel, gentiles had converted to the Church in significant numbers. The Jewish idea of the coming of the Messiah to save the world was foreign to them. How was John to present Christianity to the Greek world? They saw the "Logos" ("Word") as the creating and sustaining power of God who made the world and kept it in order. So John wrote that Jesus was the `Logos' who had come down to earth, the word made flesh (sarx in Greek). John began his gospel with a mystical hymn to Christ that summed up the whole Gospel: Jesus, the incarnate Word brought light and life into a world of darkness and death. Jesus did not become the "Word" at Bethlehem when he became flesh; he was God's Word from the beginning. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus revealed the fullness of God's enduring love. Just as God dwelled with Israel in a tabernacle during their wilderness journey, Jesus was the "tabernacle" of God's presence through the Incarnation. Since God is spirit, no one has ever seen God. Only God's son, the Second Person of the Trinity, can make him known. John the Baptist gave testimony to Jesus, God's eternal Word full of grace, truth and love. Whoever is reborn through God's grace in baptism will share eternal life with Jesus.
TO LOVE: Make a New Year's resolution to bring God's love and mercy to others.
TO SERVE: Lord God, thank you for speaking your greatest Word of love to us ̶ Jesus.

Optional Memorial of Saint Sylvester I, pope

Pope Sylvester I succeeded Saint Miltiades as pope in 314. Since Sylvester was unable to be present at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, he sent delegates of his own Roman clergy to represent him. The story of his having baptized the Roman Emperor Constantine is pure fiction, as evidence shows that the emperor received this rite near Nicomedia at the hands of Eusebius, bishop of that city. The Donation of Constantine to Pope Sylvester was supposedly issued to Sylvester for curing him of leprosy, granting the pope and his successors sovereignty and spiritual authority over Rome and the entire Western Roman Empire. Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople (the former name of Istanbul in Turkey) in 330 AD, which became the center of power of the Eastern Roman Empire, later the Byzantine Empire. Were the document genuine, the popes would have ruled as emperors in the West. The succession of Western Emperors who were not popes after Constantine suggests that the document was false.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Saturday 31 December

Sat 31st. St Silvester I 
1 John 2:18-21. Let heaven and earth exult in joy! — Ps 95(96):1-2, 11-13. John 1:1-18.

Readings

The end and the beginning.

The end of the year invites us to look back and take stock of our lives thus far, even as we look forward to the year ahead. The readings today reflect this theme, encapsulating the past, present and future.
The Gospel takes us all the way back to the beginning, to the Word who was God, and who became flesh and dwells among us even now, especially in the Blessed Sacrament.
The letter of John invites us to look to the future, reminding us that we are in the 'last days', the final era of salvation history. Despite the division and confusion this age can cause, we must nevertheless face it with a renewed sense of hope in Christ. Lord, be with us in our earthly pilgrimage as we continue on our way to meet you.

www.pray.com.au

ST. SYLVESTER, POPE

Saint Sylvester was born in Rome around the year 250. At a young age, he was put under the care of a priest to be formed in the practice of religion and sacred literature. He enjoyed providing shelter to Christians passing through the city, and would take them with him, wash their feet, serve them at table and give them all the care the needed in the name of Christ.

One of the Christians that Sylvester hosted was Timothy of Antioch, an illustrious confessor of the faith. When he arrived in Rome, no one dared to receive him, but Sylvester considered it an honor.

For a year, Timothy preached the gospel Jesus Christ with great zeal, while Sylvester selflessly shared his own home. After Timothy died as a martyr, Sylvester buried his remains, but was quickly accused of having hidden the martyr’s treasures, and the governor had him imprisoned.

In reply to the accusation, Sylvester said, “Timothy left to me only the heritage of his faith and courage.”

After the governor one day swallowed a fish bone and died, the guards' hearts were softened, and they set the brave young man free. Sylvester’s courageous acts became known to Pope Melchiades, who elevated him to the diaconate.

Under the tyranny of Diocletian, the persecution of Christians grew worse while Sylvester was still a young priest. Most Christians that went abroad were put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alternative of apostasy or death.

During this difficult time, Sylvester strengthened the confessors and martyrs, and God preserved his life from many dangers.

Sylvester became Pope in 314, after Pope Mechiades died, and reigned until 335. He is remembered in particular for the Council of Nicea, the Baptism of Constantine, and the triumph of the Church.

A memorable story from Sylvester’s pontificate involved Constantine, who was attacked by leprosy. He was still a pagan at the time, and unconcerned for the Christians, whose doctrine was entirely unknown to him.

One night Saint Peter and Saint Paul appeared to him and commanded him to call for Pope Sylvester, who would cure him by giving him Baptism. He obeyed, and the Pope baptized him, with which came Constantine’s conversion.

Even though some facts about Pope Sylvester are unknown, his feast day is celebrated on June 1 in memory of his death in 335.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=101

LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 1,1-18

Lectio Divina: 

 Saturday, December 31, 2016

1) Opening prayer

Loving Father,
You gave us your Son Jesus Christ
and let him share our poverty.
He brought us grace upon grace,
for all that comes from you is a free gift.
Accept our thanks for the moments
when we accepted your gifts
and shared them with one another.
Accept our thanks for the times
we listened attentively to your Son’s words
and put them into practice.
Help us go forward with hope and joy
with joy and mutual encouragement.
with the companion in life you have given us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading – John 1, 1-18

In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him. What has come into being in him was life, life that was the light of men; and light shines in darkness, and darkness could not overpower it. A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, he was to bear witness to the light. The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone; he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had come into being through him, and the world did not recognise him. He came to his own and his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name who were born not from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself. The Word became flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John witnesses to him. He proclaims: 'This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me has passed ahead of me because he existed before me.' Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received -- one gift replacing another, for the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

3) Reflection

• The Prologue is the first thing which one sees in opening the Gospel of John. But it was the last one to be written. It is the final summary, placed at the beginning. In it, John describes the way of the Word of God. It was at the side of God, before the creation, and through him all things were created, Everything which exists is an expression of the Word of God. As it happens with the Wisdom of God, (Pr 8, 22-31), in the same way also the Word wishes to get closer to us and becomes flesh in Jesus. It comes in our midst, and carries out its mission and returned to God. Jesus is this Word of God. Everything that it says and does is communication which reveals the Father to us.
• In saying: “In the beginning was the Word”, John recalls the first phrase of the Bible which says: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth” (Gen 1, 1). God created all things by means of his Word. “He speaks and everything is made” (Ps 33, 9; 148, 5). All creatures are an expression of the Word of God. This living Word of God, present in all things, shines in darkness. Darkness tries to overpower it, but it could not succeed. The search for God which is always new, is reborn in the human heart. Nobody succeeds in covering it. We cannot bear to live without God for a long time!
• John the Baptist comes to help people to discover and to relish this luminous and consoling presence of the Word of God in life. The witness of John the Baptism has been very important, so much so that many people thought that he was the Christ (Messiah) (Acts 19, 3; Jn 1, 20). This is why the Prologue clarifies saying: “John was not the light!. He has come to bear witness to the light!”
• Thus as the Word of God manifests itself in nature, in creation, so also it is manifested in the “world”, that is in the history of humanity, particularly, in the history of the People of God. But the “world” does not recognize, does not receive the Word. “He came to his own and his own people did not accept him”. Here when he says people , John wants to indicate the system of the empire as well as that of the religion of the time, both of them closed up in themselves and, because of this, incapable to recognize the Good News (Gospel), the luminous presence of the Word of God.
• But the persons who open themselves to accept the Word, become sons and daughters of God. The person becomes son or daughter of God not because of his/her own merits, neither because of belonging to the race of Israel, but because of the simple fact of having trust and believing that God in His goodness, accepts and receives us. The Word of God penetrates within the person and makes the person feel accepted as a son, as a daughter of God. This is the power of the grace of God.
• God does not want to remain far away from us. Because of this, His Word, gets closer and becomes present in our midst in the Person of Jesus. The Prologue literally says: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us”. In ancient times, at the time of Exodus, in the desert, God lived in a tent among the people (Ex 25, 8). Now, the tent in which God dwells with us is Jesus, “filled with grace and truth”. Jesus comes to reveal who is this our God, present in everything, from the beginning of creation.

4) Personal questions

• Everything that exists is an expression of the Word of God, a revelation of his presence. Am I sufficiently contemplative to be able to receive and experience this universal presence of the Word of God?
• What does it mean for me to be called son of God?

5) Concluding Prayer

The Lord comes,
he is coming to judge the earth;
he will judge the world with saving justice,
and the nations with constancy. (Ps 96,13)

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