First Reading

First Letter of Saint John (1 Jn 3: 11-21)

We have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.

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 and sisters, 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.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 100: 1b-2, 3, 4, 5

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

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:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

Gospel

Alleluia. Alleluia.

A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations, and adore the Lord. Today a great light has come upon the earth.

Alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 1: 43-51)

You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!

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 child of Israel.
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.“

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Genesis (Gn 15: 1-6; 21: 1-3)

Your own issue shall be your heir.

The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying:

“Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”

But Abram said,

“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”

Abram continued,

“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”

Then the word of the LORD came to him:

“No, that one shall not be your heir;
your own issue shall be your heir.”

The Lord took Abram outside and said,

“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,”

he added,

“shall your descendants be.”

Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

The LORD took note of Sarah as he had said he would;
he did for her as he had promised.
Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age,
at the set time that God had stated.
Abraham gave the name Isaac to this son of his
whom Sarah bore him.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 105: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
constantly seek his face.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations
which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

Second Reading

Letter to the Hebrew (Heb 11: 8, 11-12, 17-19)

The faith of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac.

Brothers and sisters:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age
— and Sarah herself was sterile —
for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.
So it was that there came forth from one man,
himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was ready to offer
his only son,
of whom it was said,
“Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.”
He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,
and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

— The word of the Lord.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke (Lk 2: 22-40)

The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
They took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
He took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,

“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
— and you yourself a sword will pierce —
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

There was also a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke (Lk 2: 22, 39-40)

The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
they took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

— The Gospel of the Lord.