SATURDAY 07 January

SAINT Raymond of Pennafort

Raymond of Pennafort was a Spanish Dominican friar in the 13th-century, who compiled a collection of canon laws that remained a major part of Church law until the 20th century. He is the patron saint of lawyers, especially canon lawyers.

Entrance Antiphon : Gal 4: 4-5

God sent his Son, born of a woman, so that we might receive adoption as children

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, who were pleased to shine forth with new light through the coming of your Only Begotten Son, grant, we pray, that, just as he was pleased to share our bodily form through the child-bearing of the Virgin Mary, so we, too, may one day merit to become companions in his kingdom of grace Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

First reading : 1 John 5:14-21

We are quite confident that if we ask the Son of God for anything, and it is in accordance with his will, he will hear us; and, knowing that whatever we may ask, he hears us, we know that we have already been granted what we asked of him. If anybody sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray, and God will give life to the sinner – not those who commit a deadly sin; for there is a sin that is death, and I will not say that you must pray about that. Every kind of wrong-doing is sin, but not all sin is deadly. We know that anyone who has been begotten by God does not sin, because the begotten Son of God protects him, and the Evil One does not touch him. We know that we belong to God, but the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One. We know, too, that the Son of God has come, and has given us the power to know the true God. We are in the true God, as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, this is eternal life. Children, be on your guard against false gods.

Psalm 149 :1-6,9

R/ The Lord takes delight in his people

Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel rejoice in its Maker, let Zion’s sons exult in their king.

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music with timbrel and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people. He crowns the poor with salvation.

Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, shout for joy and take their rest. Let the praise of God be on their lips: this honour is for all his faithful

Gospel Acclamation : Lk7:16

Alléluia, alléluia! . A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people Alléluia.

Gospel: John 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”, and they filled them to the brim. “Draw some out now” he told them, “and take it to the steward.” They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, “People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.” This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.

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: Jn 1: 16

From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

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

To whom do we go when we are in need? Today Jesus manifests his glory at the wedding in Cana, and he is ready to manifest it again in our lives if we go to him through Mary. If we do all that he tells us, as Mary his mother advises us, Christ will fill the empty jars of our lives abundantly as he did at the wedding feast. The first reading confirms this promise when it says: “Beloved, this is the assurance we have with God: if we request according to his will, he hears us… We also know that we get what we have asked of him.”