Today, 21st of January, we celebrate
Saint Agnes
First Reading: 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 who 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.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R./ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. or: Alleluia.
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.
R./ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. or: Alleluia.
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!
R./ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. or: Alleluia.
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.
R./ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. or: Alleluia.
Gospel Reading: Lk 5:12-16
The leprosy left him immediately.
It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
and when he saw Jesus,
he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
And the leprosy left him immediately.
Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but
“Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing
what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
The report about him spread all the more,
and great crowds assembled to listen to him
and to be cured of their ailments,
but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
The entrance antiphon for today’s Mass says: In darkness, a light shines: the Lord who is just, merciful, and compassionate. The Gospel of Luke recounts Jesus’ first public act in the synagogue of Nazareth, where He announces His mission as the Anointed One and calls for conversion.
This same passage inspires the third luminous mystery of the Rosary. Twenty years ago, Saint John Paul II published the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, adding five Luminous Mysteries to the 15 traditionally meditated on in the Rosary. The Luminous Mysteries focus on the public life of Christ: His Baptism in the Jordan, His self-revelation at the wedding in Cana, His proclamation of the Kingdom of God with a call to conversion, the Transfiguration, and the institution of the Eucharist.
**In the third mystery, we reflect on the passage from Luke that recounts Jesus’ role as a reader in the synagogue of Nazareth—the first proclamation. In the popular series The Chosen, the scene emphasizes how Jesus intentionally selects the scroll containing the verses from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to give sight to the blind, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, and to announce a year of the Lord’s favor.” It is the first proclamation of light. After the reading, Jesus said, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Light for the poor, the suffering, the captives, the prisoners, the blind—in other words, for all of us, for all humanity. In some way, who among us isn’t poor, wounded, captive, or imprisoned? Who doesn’t need liberation? Who doesn’t long for salvation? Who isn’t blind in some way? Of course, some might believe (and that person is surely the poorest and most unfortunate of all) that they don’t need salvation, light, or God. For this reason, in addition to giving thanks and asking for Christ’s light to heal and soften our hearts, it is good and merciful to proclaim the Gospel—the good news that is Jesus Himself—and to pray for the conversion of those who do not yet know Him or who have closed themselves off to His light.
Virginia Fernández
Introduction
What John says in his letter about faith in Jesus is exemplified in the Gospel. Faith consists in believing in Jesus Christ, “who came by water and blood.” When he was baptized in the waters of the Jordan, he was proclaimed Son of God; by shedding his blood on the cross, he accomplished his mission. This Jesus has eternal life. By believing in him, we encounter him as a person and share in his life.
The leper believes in him: “You can cure me,” he says. Jesus restores the man’s health and, thus, manifests once more that God’s power and life is in him.
Opening Prayer
Lord God of life,
we believe with all that is in us
that Jesus is your Son and our Savior.
He can heal us from the leprosy of sin
and give us a share in the fullness of his life.
Deepen our faith in him and let it change our lives.
Let us encounter your Son from person to person,
that he may live in us
and that we may bear witness
that he is our Lord and Savior,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
General Intercessions
– That all Christians, especially our leaders of the Church, may by their goodness and their spontaneous joy bear forceful witness that Jesus Christ is our risen Lord, we pray:
– That all peoples of the earth may know where the Lord can be found and come to know his name and pray to him, we pray:
– That the faith and hope of the sick and the dying may be firmly anchored in our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God,
in these signs of bread and wine,
we remember that Jesus shed his blood
to let us share in his life and love.
Renew us by his body and blood,
that we may grow in his likeness
and that you may recognize in us
the face of your own Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, loving Father,
your Son has been with us
and we entrust ourselves to him in faith.
Let this faith mark our lives,
that whatever the future brings,
we keep trusting and hoping
that he is our life and joy and healing,
and that with him and on account of him
we will live in your love,
for ever and ever.
Blessing
“Whoever has Jesus, the Son, has life,” says the apostle John to us today. May Jesus’ life keep growing in all of us, and may God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
