1st READING
Christians today, as always, are called to shed the light of the truth upon the various situations they encounter in the world. This means that we have to take seriously the call to stand up for what we believe in and explain to the world why we believe, even if we know the position we will take will not be welcome. Since the beginning, men and women have become martyrs for their faith – we must be willing to follow their example.
Isaiah 60:1-6
1 Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. 3 Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. 4 Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. 5 Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. 6 Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.
P S A L M
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R) 10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. 11 All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R)
2nd READING
Paul affirms our responsibility to make known the truth of the Gospel to the nations. It is not enough to simply practice our faith in silence; we must explain it to those who challenge us. We need to deepen our understanding of the faith to the point that we can know and act upon its essentials when challenged by the relativism of our world. It is too easy to water down our faith into some sort of acceptable “brand” of Christianity; we must not be ashamed of what faith proclaims and be ready to live it to the full.
Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6
2 Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit, 3 namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. 5 It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6 that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
GOSPEL
The wise men traveled a great distance to pay homage to Jesus. They were not afraid to let it be known that they believed the child Jesus was worthy of their homage. Why are we so afraid to stand for what we know to be the truth when we think others around us may not agree with us? We should be proud to stand for the Gospel especially when it sets us apart from the world because that is precisely what it means to be a saint. We should be set apart (from the world) to do the bidding of God and begin living the life of heaven.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.
Matthew 2:1-12
1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” 9 After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 11 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.st READING 2nd READING
GOSPEL PSALM
TODAY’S
LIST
think: We have to take seriously the call to stand up for what we believe in and explain to the world why we believe.
T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________
God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
_________________________________________________________
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Matthew 22-24
SABBATH PAUSE
My weekly time with God
THANK YOU LIST
Things to be grateful for from the past week
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
SPECIAL NEEDS
Things to ask God for in the coming week
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
HIDDEN TREASURE
Most important word God told me this week
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment