Daily Readings for January 4, 2018

1ST READING

Righteousness is possible only by the grace of God working in us. There is nothing we can achieve without the help of God (cf. John 15:6). Let us pray for the grace to always seek His help to live in righteousness and receive the gift of salvation that He gives us through Jesus.

1 John 3:7-10

7 Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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.

P S A L M

Psalm 98:1, 7-8, 9

R: All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

1 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)7 Let the sea and what fills it resound, the world and those who dwell in it; 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, the mountains shout with them for joy 9 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

Part of discipleship is coming to Jesus and seeing what it means to be His disciple. We must first understand the demands of discipleship before we can follow Jesus. He invites John’s two disciples to take a look at what it means to follow Him. In the Gospels, Jesus explains the meaning of events in terms of discipleship. Are you ready to follow Jesus? Let’s follow Him together.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets: in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son.

John 1:35-42

35 John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” 37 The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. 38 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?” 39 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. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ). 42 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).