Tuesday 03 January

SAINT Genevieve

St. Genevieve was born about the year 422, at Nanterre near Paris. The life of St. Genevieve was one of great austerity, constant prayer, and works of charity. She died in the year 512..

Entrance Antiphon : Ps 117: 26-27

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord : The Lord is God and has given us light.

Collect

O God, who in the blessed child-bearing of the holy Virgin Mary kept the flesh of your Son free from the sentence incurred by the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have been taken up into this new creation, may be freed from the ancient taint of sin. 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 2: 29- 3: 6

You know that God is righteous – then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous has been begotten by him. Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is. Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ. Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, because to sin is to break the law. Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin; anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.

Psalm 97(98):1, 3-6

R/ All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy armhave brought salvation.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth,ring out your joy.

Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp with the sound of music. With trumpets and the sound of the horn acclaim the King, the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Alléluia, alléluia! A hallowed day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations, worship the Lord, for today a great light has shone down upon the earth  Alléluia. (cf. Jn 1, 14a.12a)

Gospel: John 1: 29-34

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.” John also declared, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.”

Prayer over the Offerings

Receive with favour, O Lord, we pray, the offerings of your people, that what they profess with devotion and faith may be theirs through these heavenly mysteries. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Eph 2: 4; Rm 8: 3          

Because of that great love of his with which God loved us, he sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

Prayer after Communion

O God, who touch us through our partaking of your Sacrament, work, we pray, the effects of its power in our hearts, that we may be made fit to receive your gift through this very gift itself. Through Christ our Lord..

MEDITATION

The Lamb played an important role in the lives of the Jewish people. The Lamb’s sacrifice was a symbol of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. By calling Jesus the Lamb, John referred to a new spiritual deliverance from the slavery of sin. The question asked by Isaac – the Son of Abraham – at the beginning of Genesis, “where is the lamb of sacrifice?” has now been answered by John in these words: “there is the lamb.” Jesus is the Lamb who takes away our sins. Let us turn to Christ to obtain true freedom from our sins in this new year.