Daily Mass Readings For Thursday, January 2, 2025
Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
Reading 1 :
1 John 2:22-28
Alleluia :
Hebrews 1:1-2
Gospel:
John 1:19-28
Liturgical vestments: White
Memorial
Thursday, January 2, 2025: Readings & Responsorial Psalm & Gospel
Each day, the Mass readings invite us into a deeper encounter with God. Through Scripture, we hear His voice speaking to our hearts, guiding us, comforting us, and calling us to a life of holiness. The Word of God is not just a story from the past; it is alive, relevant, and transformative.
Every reading is an opportunity for grace. Some days, the words challenge us to grow; other days, they console us in our struggles. But always, they nourish our souls, strengthening our faith and drawing us closer to Christ.
Let us open our hearts to the Word of God daily. May we not just hear it but live it, allowing it to shape our actions and deepen our love for Him. Lord, speak to us today, and help us to follow You more faithfully. Amen.
Beloved:
Who is the liar?
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
I write you these things about those who would deceive you.
As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.
But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false;
just as it taught you, remain in him.
And now, children, remain in him,
so that when he appears we may have confidence
and not be put to shame by him at his coming.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
In times, past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets:
in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
Reflection
“Come then and see new and astounding miracles: the Sun of righteousness washing in the Jordan, fire immersed in water, God sanctified by the ministry of man. Today every creature shouts in resounding song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Saint Proclus of Constantinople)
“John the Baptist “bends down” before God. It is exactly what the Redeemer does: God dwells on high, yet he stoops down to us. God’s looking down is active. It transforms me and the world.” (Benedict XVI)
“Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission (…). ‘The one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the anointing' (St. Irenaeus of Lyon). His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John (…).” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 438)
Receiving baptism was an outward and visible sign of the conversion of those who had listened to his preaching and decided to repent. (…) Conversion involves suffering for sins committed, the desire to be free from them, the intention to exclude them from one’s own life forever. To exclude sin it is also necessary to reject everything that is connected to it; the things that are connected to sin and thus, we have to reject: a worldly mentality, excessive esteem for comforts, excessive esteem for pleasure, for well-being, for wealth. The example of this detachment comes to us once again from today’s Gospel in the person of John the Baptist: an austere man who renounces excess and seeks the essential. This is the first aspect of conversion: detachment from sin and worldliness: (…) Detachment is not an end in itself, but is a means of attaining something greater, namely, the Kingdom of God, communion with God, friendship with God. (Angelus, 6 December 2020)
Saint of the Day
Two Saints who in life were bound by a deep friendship and whose liturgical memory falls on the same day: St. Basil (to whom the Cathedral of Moscow is dedicated) and St. Gregory Nazianzen are celebrated on January 2.
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