WEDNESDAY 08 JANUARY 2020

by | Jan 7, 2020 | Evangelium

wednesday 08 JANUARY 2020

 

St Nathalan (-678)

Nathalan, or Nachlan or Nauchlan, was born in the village of Tullich (now in Aberdeenshire), for which he was eventually appointed bishop. As well as the church in Tullich, he also built churches at Bothelim and Colle. He possessed a large estate, which he cultivated and distributed his harvest generously to the poor. He was one of the apostles of the region.

White

 

 

Entrance Antiphon :Is 9:1

A people who walked in darkness has seen a great light; for those dwelling in a land of deep gloom, a light has shone.

 

Collect

O God, who bestow light on all the nations, grant your peoples the gladness of lasting peace and pour into our hearts that brilliant light by which you purified the minds of our fathers in faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 

First reading:1 John 4:11-18

My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us. We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit. We ourselves saw and we testify that the Father sent his Son as saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God. We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves. God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him. Love will come to its perfection in us when we can face the day of Judgement without fear; because even in this world we have become as he is. In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love.

 

Psalm 71(72):1-2, 10-13

R/ All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

 

  1. O God, give your judgement to the king, to a king’s son your justice, that he may judge your people in justice and your poor in right judgement.
  2. The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts shall pay him tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring him gifts. Before him all kings shall fall prostrate, all nations shall serve him.
  3. For he shall save the poor when they cry and the needy who are helpless. He will have pity on the weak and save the lives of the poor.

 

Gospel Acclamation : Lk 4:17

Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives. Alleluia!

 

Gospel : Mark 6:45-52

After the five thousand had eaten and were filled, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away. After saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray. When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. He could see they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they had all seen him and were terrified. But he at once spoke to them, and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.

 

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that, through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Communion Antiphon : 1 Jn 1: 2

That life which was with the Father became visible, and has appeared to us.

 

Prayer after Communion

May your people, O Lord, whom you guide and sustain in many ways, experience, both now and in the future, the remedies which you bestow, that, with the needed solace of things that pass away, they may strive with ever deepened trust for things eternal. Through Christ our Lord.

 

 

Meditation

The gospel tells us about the disciples of Jesus struggling against a strong wind while Jesus was in the mountain alone praying to God after He dismissed the crowd.  One interpretation is passage is that the Christian community of disciples is in the boat of the Church struggling against the wind of the darkness of sin, abandonment, of God’s absence when in trouble. It seems that in moments like this stormy weather of our faith God is absent, silent, far away and prayers seem not heard. But Jesus is telling us that this is a test of our faith; we need to have a faith that is ready to trust, because even in those dark moments God knows what we are going through. He is near to us and He is not a ghost. So the first thing that we should do is pray.