Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection December 27, 2024

27th December 2024 (Friday)

Psalter: Proper

Readings of the Day

First Reading: 1 John 1:1-4

Beloved: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life — for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12 (R. 12)

R/. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the glorious company of Apostles praise you.

R/. Alleluia.

Gospel: John 20:1a & 2-8

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Friday – Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

Guidelines: The birth of Jesus is God’s visible testimony of His love for us in sensitivity and solidarity. Our fitting response is to receive and live this love

1. The Christmas mood still hovers over us during this Christmas Octave. The celebration of John’s feast once again strongly reminds us of Christmas as a Love-feast. God loves us so much and so He gives His only Son as His most precious and incomparable gift to us.

2. Our birth is already a gift from God. The life that we enjoy is a share, an extension of His very life. But God is not satisfied with that. He wants to show it much more directly and intensely. That is why He incarnates His only Son. He takes our flesh. He was born as one of us. Thus, the birth of Christ is the “fullness of life”, a “heightening of our birth”.

3. His birth is the greatest testimony of his sensitivity toward our sinful life and his solidarity with us. When our life gets tainted by sin and loses the fullness of life, he becomes like us. Thereby he wants to remove those stains. He wants to restore us to our original beauty and dignity.

4. St John, the Apostle of love whose feast we celebrate today indicates how we must receive this “birthing love” of God amidst us and how we must respond to it. If you want to experience and relish this incarnate love of God, then incarnate the same love in and through us.

5. This implies a double duty and challenge: first of all, to experience his love personally and then share the same with others. How did John experience Jesus’ love personally? He stayed and lived with him in intimacy and inseparable communion.

6. This sense of intimacy is so deeply manifest in his intimate and personal expressions. He could say confidently and convincingly: “The life was made manifest, and we have heard it, we have seen with our eyes, and we have looked upon and touched with our hands”.

7. This personal experience of the Life of God leads to a duty to “testify to it and proclaim to others”. This implies it is a twofold mission: in word and life. The whole purpose is to promote and foster the same “fellowship with the Father and the Son” through the Spirit.

8. That is what St John did. He bore witness to that love that he himself experienced, by word, both proclaimed and written, and by his life example. He lived a life of love.

Practice: We can experience the abundant love of God only when we try to live in an intimate relationship with him and bear testimony to it in word and deed