Friday Before Epiphany (Year II)
6th January 2023 (Friday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: 1 JOHN 5. 5-13
5.Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6.This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7.For there are three that testify: 8.the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9.If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10.Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11.And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12.Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.13.I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
PSALM 147:12-13,14-15,19-20 (R.12a)
Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord! or Alleluia
Gospel : LUKE 3. 23-38
23.Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24.the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25.the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26.the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27.the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28.the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29.the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30.the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31.the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32.the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33.the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34.the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35.the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36.the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37.the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38.the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: God in history!
Indicative: God becomes man. He is born into our human history. He shares in our human lineage. Thereby, his divinity is humanised and our humanity is divinised{alertSuccess}
1. God gives us eternal life and this life is in His Son. Whoever believes and abides in the Son will obtain this life. To give us this life, the Son shares our human life becoming one of us. The eternal God takes upon himself the temporary human flesh. He inserts himself into our human history. He becomes part of a genealogy, narrated painstakingly in today’s gospel of Luke.
2. The detailed listing of the genealogy is an authentic indicative of God’s condescending love for us and His eternal plan of salvation through the incarnation of His only Son. This is an essential tenet of faith to believe in: that the Son of God has incarnated himself as Jesus of Nazareth in the human womb of the virgin Mary.
3. This is something so great and worth-rejoicing. Just imagine that God Himself is born as one of us! Thereby our sin-tainted humanity is certainly elevated. This exaltation takes place already at incarnation itself and thereafter during his life struggle. And at the end of his earthly life reaches its climax and peak in the sacrifice on the cross and the victorious resurrection.
4. As John attests in the first reading, God Himself bears testimony to this truth. Wherever God steps in, it gets transformed. God enters our human history and so it becomes sacred and salvation history. He comes and walks on the earth and it becomes a pilgrim land and abode. He puts on human flesh and nature and they become divinised.
5. The genealogy shows the divine encounter with the human. His sharing in our humanity is not a limitation or restriction on the infinitude of his divinity. Rather, it can be seen as an explicit explication of perfection. He shares that very humanity that he himself has created. The very fact that he subjects himself to time and space is not again an imperfection. Rather, it shows his perfection to make himself part of the imperfection without losing his intrinsic perfection.
6. The variety of names in the genealogy is composed of persons with their own inadequacies. This again shows us that in God’s eternal plan, nothing is despicable or discriminated. Though as a human, he may be confined to a place and time. But as the incarnate Saviour, he is not bound by any category because his salvation is for all.
Imperative: We are destined for the life in eternity. We have access to this through the incarnation of the Son of God. And we will possess this life when we believe him and live in him{alertSuccess}