Thursday before Epiphany
Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Jn 3:7-10
Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 98:1, 7-8, 9 (R. 3cd)
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for He has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for Him,
His holy arm. R.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy before the LORD. R.
The LORD comes;
He comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity. R.
Gospel – Jn 1:35-42
John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following Him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah,” which is translated Christ. Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter.
Featured Saints
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, widow and religious (†1821). Memorial in the USA. First native-born American to become a canonized saint. Born and raised in a Protestant family in New York, She converted to the Catholic Faith after becoming a widow and founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph in Maryland,dedicated to running orphanages and schools.
St. Rigobert, bishop (†c. 743). Expelled from the Episcopal See of Rheims, France, by Charles Martel, Duke and Prince of the Franks.
Blessed Manuel González García, bishop (†1940). Known as The Apostle of the Abandoned Tabernacles, he spread devotion to the Eucharist in the dioceses of Malaga and Palencia, Spain. He founded the Congregation of the Eucharistic Missionary Sisters of Nazareth.
St. Pharaildis, widow (†c. 745). Born to a noble family of Ghent, Belgium. She patiently suffered abuse from her husband and, during her widowhood, she dedicated herself, until old age, to an austere life of prayer.
St. Angela of Foligno, widow (†1309). Mystic and contemplative who, after the death of her husband and children, gave herself entirely to God in the Franciscan Third Order.
Blessed Thomas Plumtree, priest and martyr (†1570). Executed for his Faith in Durham during the reign of Elizabeth I of England.
Blessed Christina Menabuoi, religious (†1310). Foundress of the Augustinian convent of Santa Maria Novella in Santa Croce sull’Arno, Italy.
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