4 January

First reading

1 John 3:7-10
No-one sins who has been begotten by God
My children, do not let anyone lead you astray:
to live a holy life
is to be holy just as he is holy;
to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil,
since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared.
No one who has been begotten by God sins;
because God’s seed remains inside him,
he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.
In this way we distinguish the children of God
from the children of the devil:
anybody not living a holy life
and not loving his brother
is no child of God’s.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 97(98):1,7-9

R. (3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

1 Sing ye to the Lord anew canticle: because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy.

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

7 Let the sea be moved and the fulness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein.

8 The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together

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

9 At the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with equity.

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

Gospel Acclamation Jn1:14,12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel

John 1:35-42
‘We have found the Messiah’
As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.
One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.