Christmas Weekday (January 5th)

First Letter of John

Beloved: This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another,
unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.
Do not be amazed, (then,) brothers, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?
Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.
(Now) this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if (our) hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God

Psalms

Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
give thanks to him; bless his name.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow me."
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

St. John N. Neumann(Bishop (1811-1860) - Memorial)

SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANNBishop(1811-1860) St. John Neumann was born in Bohemia on March 20, 1811. His great affection for the American missions brought him to the United States as a cleric, and he was ordained in New York in 1836. In 1840, he entered the Congragation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists). He labored in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In 1852, he was consecrated bishop of Philadelphia. There, he worked hard for the establishment of parish schools and parishes for immigrants. St. John Neumann passed away on January 5, 1860. He was beatified in 1963 and canonized in 1977.

St. Genoveva Torres Morales(Foundress (1870-1956))

Saint Genoveva Torres MoralesFoundress of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Angels (The Angélicas)(1870-1956) Genoveva Torres Morales was born on January 3, 1870 in Almenara, Castille, Spain, the youngest of six children. By the age of eight, both her parents and four of her siblings had died, leaving Genoveva to care for the home and her brother, José. Although he treated her with respect, José was very demanding and taciturn. Being deprived of affection and companionship from her early years, Genoveva became accustomed to solitude. When she was 10, she took a special interest in reading spiritual books. Through this pursuit, she came to understand that true happiness is doing God's will, and it was for this reason that each one of us is created. This became her rule of life. At the age of 13, Genoveva's left leg had to be amputated in order to stop the gangrene that was spreading there. The amputation was done in her home, and since the anaesthesia was not sufficient, the pain was excruciating. Throughout her life, her leg caused her pain and sickness, and she was forced to use crutches. From 1885 to 1894, she lived at the Mercy Home run by the Carmelites of Charity. In the nine years she lived with the sisters and with other children, the young Genoveva deepened her life of piety and perfected her sewing skills. It was also in these years that Fr Carlos Ferrís, a diocesan priest and future Jesuit and founder of a leprosarium in Fontilles, would guide the "beginnings" of her spiritual and apostolic life. God also gave Genoveva the gift of "spiritual liberty," and this was something she would endeavour to practise throughout her life. Reflecting on this period at the Mercy Home, she later would write: "I loved freedom of heart very much, and worked and am working to achieve it fully.... It does the soul so much good that every effort is nothing compared with this free condition of the heart". Genoveva intended to join the Carmelites of Charity, but it seems she was not accepted due to her physical condition. She longed to be consecrated to God and, being of a decided and resolute nature, she continued to be open to his guidance. In 1894, Genoveva left the Carmelites of Charity's home and went to live briefly with two women who supported themselves by their own work. Together they "shared" the solitude and poverty. In 1911, Canon Barbarrós suggested that Genoveva begin a new religious community, pointing out that there were many poor women who could not afford to live on their own and thus suffered much hardship. For years, Genoveva had thought of starting a religious congregation that would be solely concerned with meeting the needs of such women, since she knew of no one engaged in this work. With the help of Canon Barbarrós and Fr Martín Sánchez, S.J., the first community was established in Valencia. Shortly thereafter, other women arrived, wanting to share the same apostolic and spiritual life. It was not long before more communities were established in other parts of Spain, despite many problems and obstacles. A constant source of suffering for Mother Genoveva was her involvement in external activity and the new foundations. She desired to return to her characteristic interior solitude and remain alone with the Lord, but she accepted her calling as God's will and did not let her physical or interior suffering stop her. She would say: "Even if I must suffer greatly, thanks be to God's mercy, I will not lack courage". She was known for her kindness and openness to all, and for her good sense of humour - she would even joke about her physical ailments. In 1953, the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Angels received Pontifical approval. Mother Genoveva died on January 5, 1956. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on January 29, 1995 and canonized on May 4, 2003 at Madrid.

St. Simeon Stylites (c.401-460)()

SAINT SIMEON STYLITES(c.401 - 460) One winter's day, about the year 401, the snow lay thick around Sisan, a little town in Cilicia. A shepherd boy, who could not lead his sheep to the fields on account of the cold, went to the church instead, and listened to the eight Beatitudes, which were read that morning. He asked how these blessings were to be obtained, and when he was told of the monastic life, a thirst for perfection arose within him. He became the wonder of the world, the great St. Simeon Stylites. He was warned that perfection would cost him dear, and so it did. A mere child, he began the monastic life, and therein passed a dozen years in superhuman austerity. On at least one occassion, he ate but once in seven days. When God led him to a solitary life, he kept fasts of forty days. For thirty-seven years, he climbed on the top of pillars, exposed to heat and cold, day and night adoring the majesty of God. Perfection was all in all to St. Simeon; the means nothing - except in so far as God chose them for him. The solitaries of Egypt were suspicious of a life so new and so strange, and they sent one of their number to bid St. Simeon come down from his pillar and return to the common life. In a moment the Saint made ready to descend; but the Egyptian religious was satisfied with this proof of humility. "Stay," he said, "and take courage; your way of life is from God." Cheerfulness, humility, and obedience set their seal upon the austerities of St. Simeon. The words which God put into his mouth brought crowds of pagans to baptism and of sinners to penance. At last, in the year 460, those who watched below noticed that he had been motionless three whole days. They ascended, and found the old man's body still bent in the attitude of prayer, but his soul was with God. Extraordinary as the life of St. Simeon may appear, it teaches us two plain and practical lessons: First, we must constantly renew within ourselves an intense desire for perfection. Secondly, we must use with fidelity and courage the means of perfection God points out. "Take up your cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24).

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2022 / Catholic Missal of january 2022