7 January 2023 – Saturday after Epiphany

7 January 2023 – Saturday after Epiphany

Optional Memorial: St Raymond of Penafort, 1175-1275, Dominican lawyer and Archbishop of Tarragona.

1st Reading: 1 John 3:22 – 4:6

Distinguishing the spirit of truth from the spirit of error

Beloved, we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Responsorial: 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. (R./)

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. (R./)

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. (R./)

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Jesus went about the country villages, teaching and healing

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And he went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

From darkness to light

Some details in his Gospel suggest that St Matthew saw Jesus as a kind of new Moses, adding to the ethical teachings of Israel’s great lawgiver and shaping the New Covenant in a way that was more spiritual, more personally demanding than the Old Covenant. These parallels between Jesus and Moses were important for Matthew’s community, but even more important is the idea that God’s favour is not limited to Abraham’s descendants. There is great significance in Jesus’ moving on to Capernaum, a lakeshore town that represented what Matthew calls “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Out Lord’s moving his home to Capernaum symbolised that all nations will see the light of salvation through him – that is, they will be called into God’s own family and be saved.

Jesus visited various synagogues in Galilee, proclaiming his message about God’s ways (which he called the kingdom of God,) and curing every kind of sickness among the people. It was his healing power, his evident concern for enhancing the lives of the marginalised, that drew the crowds to him. The dynamic that moved him to preach and made him available to all kinds of outsiders, was love. If he called on people to “repent” – to reconsider their ambitions, priorities and lifestyle – it was for their good, to open them up to a fuller kind of life. Then Matthew sums up the impact of all Jesus’ activities in the lovely phrase: “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light!

His teaching that the kingdom of heaven is near was illustrated by healing those who were broken in mind, body and spirit. St. Matthew conveys the light and life that Jesus brings. There was something so powerful and attractive about him and his message that people gathered to him from a very large area, Galilee, the Decapolis, Judaea and Transjordan, to be taught and renewed in spirit.

The person of Jesus and the message he proclaims are as powerful today as when he walked this earth. He is as much God’s gift to us today as he was two thousand years ago for the people who flocked to him. He is just as much a light in our darkness now as he was then. It is good to remind ourselves of this basic truth about our faith as we face into the year that lies ahead.