The Word today, Christmas2
- Admin
- Jan 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 16
January 06 - January 11, 2025
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Isaiah 60:1-6 The ingathering of Israel is expanded here to all those who search for God. It is a thrilling reading, which has enriched how we imagine the Magi.
Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 Who is called into relationship with God? All of us, every human being without distinction. The revelation in Christ is an unveiling of God’s longing for us.
Matthew 2:1-12 How can we discover or rediscover God and Christ? Only by recognising that “you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until the come to rest in God.” The human condition may be s u m m a r i s e d a s “ t h e h e a r t i n pilgrimage.”
St Raymond of Peñafort
1 John 3:22-4:6 Something of the difcult situation of the Johannine community comes to expression here. Clearly, there has been a split over doctrine and there is great anxiety that the true believers might be “contaminated” by false teaching at the hands of false prophets.
Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25 Matthew “locates” the proclamation of Jesus with a mighty quotation from Isaiah. Following on the story of the Magi, we have a ringing afrmation of the inclusion of the Gentiles.
1 John 4:7-10 When we speak of the love of God, it could mean two things. The foundational gift is God’s love for us rst of all and in the strength of that love we are able to love in turn.
Mark 6:34-44 All the miracles are to be read at two levels. There is the level of a story in the life of Jesus. Then, there is the level of the story in my life today. Already, we hear echoes of the Eucharist in the telling: Jesus said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples. We are those disciples today.
1 John 4:11-18 Continuing from yesterday, how could we best respond to God’s astonishing love of us? 1 John explores in a very helpful way the many dimensions of the love affair between God and us.
Mark 6:45-52 One more, the miracle story are to be read at two levels. This us true especially of the walking on them water. When the later community felt the absence of Jesus, this story served to remind them: ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ We are the same today: we too need this word of presence and encouragement.
1 John 4:19-5:4 How would you know your love of God was genuine? Here’s a practical test. The letter of John — highly spiritual — is also highly practical: man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen.
Luke 4:14-22 Today we hear Luke’s telling of Jesus’ visit to his hometown and synagogue. Again, Luke “locates” the proclamation of Jesus, using another mighty citation from Isaiah. There can be no separation of the Gospel and the social teaching Jesus — these are one and the same.
1 John 5:5-13 Once again, some of the difculties of the community at the time of writing are evident: some were rejecting Jesus as the Son of God, denying at the same time the incarnation. With feeling and precision, the author appears for true orthodox belief.
Luke 5:12-16 Various skin diseases at the time were regarded not simply medically but also from the viewpoint of ritual purity. The victims of these complaints were excluded from the community and especially from the community at prayer. Restoration of health meant restoration to community too — hence the requirement to show himself to the priest.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025, January 5). The Epiphany of the Lord. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010525.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/
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