Readings for Saturday following Epiphany[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 1 John 5:14-21
And we have this confidence in him
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 anyone begotten by God does not sin;
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.
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Commentary on 1 Jn 5:14-21
The concluding passage of St. John’s first letter begins by expressing the faith Christians have in prayers being heard. It moves immediately into the response of the community to those who have sinned but not deadly sins (given the main purpose of this letter, this probably refers to apostasy as a result of false teachers). In summarizing the themes St. John has dealt with in the letter, a contrast is drawn between the members of the community of faith (those “begotten by God”) and the secular world belonging to the Evil One. Those who are faithful to Jesus find eternal life in him. It ends rather awkwardly with one last exhortation to be on guard against idols, almost an afterthought.
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Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (see 4a) 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
Psalm 149 is a communal song of praise, rejoicing in God’s kingship and inviting the faithful to celebrate his saving works. We rejoice because God brings victory to the lowly and hope to the oppressed.
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Gospel: John 3:22-30
After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea,
where he spent some time with them baptizing.
John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there,
and people came to be baptized,
for John had not yet been imprisoned.
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew
about ceremonial washings.
So they came to John and said to him,
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan,
to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”
John answered and said,
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.
You yourselves can testify that I said (that) I am not the Christ,
but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
So this joy of mine has been made complete.
He must increase; I must decrease.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 3:22-30
It seems, in this passage from St. John’s Gospel, that Jesus is personally Baptizing those who are coming to him. We learn later, in John 4:2 that it is just his disciples who are doing this. This section has only one purpose placed here and that is to mark the end of the mission of St. John the Baptist and the ascendancy of Christ (“He must increase; I must decrease.”) In St. John’s Gospel this is the end of the beginning.
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Reflection:
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 1 John 5:14-21
And we have this confidence in him
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 anyone begotten by God does not sin;
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Jn 5:14-21
The concluding passage of St. John’s first letter begins by expressing the faith Christians have in prayers being heard. It moves immediately into the response of the community to those who have sinned but not deadly sins (given the main purpose of this letter, this probably refers to apostasy as a result of false teachers). In summarizing the themes St. John has dealt with in the letter, a contrast is drawn between the members of the community of faith (those “begotten by God”) and the secular world belonging to the Evil One. Those who are faithful to Jesus find eternal life in him. It ends rather awkwardly with one last exhortation to be on guard against idols, almost an afterthought.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (see 4a) 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
Psalm 149 is a communal song of praise, rejoicing in God’s kingship and inviting the faithful to celebrate his saving works. We rejoice because God brings victory to the lowly and hope to the oppressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 3:22-30
After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea,
where he spent some time with them baptizing.
John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there,
and people came to be baptized,
for John had not yet been imprisoned.
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew
about ceremonial washings.
So they came to John and said to him,
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan,
to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”
John answered and said,
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.
You yourselves can testify that I said (that) I am not the Christ,
but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
So this joy of mine has been made complete.
He must increase; I must decrease.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 3:22-30
It seems, in this passage from St. John’s Gospel, that Jesus is personally Baptizing those who are coming to him. We learn later, in John 4:2 that it is just his disciples who are doing this. This section has only one purpose placed here and that is to mark the end of the mission of St. John the Baptist and the ascendancy of Christ (“He must increase; I must decrease.”) In St. John’s Gospel this is the end of the beginning.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
“if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
How many times have we heard embittered people complain that they no longer believe in God because they had prayed for something but it did not happen? That “something” may have been something noble like praying a parent or child might not be taken from this world or it may have been something completely self centered like “I prayed that I would win the lottery and I didn’t”.
We are assured by Jesus himself on numerous occasions that anything asked for in his name will be given (
When we think about prayer in this way, especially the kind of spontaneous prayer we use most frequently, we find that our motives are directed at alleviating our own discomfort rather than at seeking an outcome that will bring glory to God the Father. There is an attitude needed to gain assurance that our prayers will be answered. It is St. John the Baptist’s attitude expressed in the Gospel of St. John - “He must increase; I must decrease.” Our intention when praying must not be selfish.
How often have we prayed fervently for something to happen and when it did, our initial response was not “Thank you God, may this triumph you have brought about be praised as one more example of your love and mercy, of your great power and love for us.” Did we not rather rejoice in our good fortune rather than giving God thanks for having answered our prayers? Worse yet, when the outcome of some event we prayed for was not as we had wished it, how quickly we remember that we had asked God for this outcome and he had denied us our happiness.
The Lord never said he would grant us our every wish. He is not like a genie in a bottle, ready to pop out and grant us all we want. We listen carefully to that passage with which this reflection began “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” He hears us! It can be like a small child asking for ice cream just before a meal, Jesus hears us but our request is not reasonable, not part of his plan. We also understand that much of what takes place is according to the free will he gave us – we make decisions, often bad ones, and the Lord allows his creation to follow its own course – free as he is free.
The message we take away today is that Jesus does indeed hear us and when it is possible, according to his plan, he will grant our petitions. For our part we must always to remember that what is done, is done for the greater glory of the Father and that our response must be one of praise.
Pax
Please pray for Ron Sr.
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “The Virgin in Prayer” by Albrecht Dürer, 1518
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved
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