First Reading

First Letter of Saint John (1 Jn 5: 5-13)

The Spirit, the water, and the blood.

Beloved:
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and Blood.
The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.
So there are three that testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the Blood,
and the three are of one accord.
If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.
Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself.
Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar
by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.
And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 147: 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.

He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.

Gospel

Alleluia. Alleluia.

The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.

Alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 1: 7-11)

You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed:

“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,

“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

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.

Only choice and respect for that choice can lead to peace and security, progress and well-being. Malagasy people want to have a choice and respect the choices of others. mba ho vanona" program with General Désiré Ramakavelo.

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, You who have come in such large numbers to take part in this national pilgrimage, as well as all of you who are following it from home through the media. We, the bishops of Madagascar, would like to express our deep gratitude to you for having responded to our invitation and for having brought this jubilee initiated by Pope Francis to life spiritually. With you, we take up Mary's song: ‘My soul exalts the Lord’ and we repeat with her: ‘What shall I repay the Lord for all the good he has done me?’....

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