Liturgy of the Sunday

Second Sunday after Christmas

First Reading

Sirach 24,1-4.8-12

Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself. She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One: 'I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like mist. I had my tent in the heights, and my throne was a pillar of cloud. Then the Creator of all things instructed me and he who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, "Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance." From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain. In the holy tent I ministered before him and thus became established in Zion. In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority. I have taken root in a privileged people, in the Lord's property, in his inheritance.

Psalmody

Psalm 147

Antiphon

How beautiful it is to sing to the Lord.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
he has blessed the children within you.

He established pace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.

He showers down snow white as wool,
he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.

He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
The waters are frozen at his touch;

he sends forth his word and it melts them:
at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.

He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.

Second Reading

Ephesians 1,3-6.15-18

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Thus he chose us in Christ before the world was made to be holy and faultless before him in love, marking us out for himself beforehand, to be adopted sons, through Jesus Christ. Such was his purpose and good pleasure, to the praise of the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved, That is why I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for all God's holy people, have never failed to thank God for you and to remember you in my prayers. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people,

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to the people he loves.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 1,1-18

In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him. What has come into being in him was life, life that was the light of men; and light shines in darkness, and darkness could not overpower it. A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, he was to bear witness to the light. The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone; he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had come into being through him, and the world did not recognise him. He came to his own and his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name who were born not from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself. The Word became flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John witnesses to him. He proclaims: 'This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me has passed ahead of me because he existed before me.' Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received -- one gift replacing another, for the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

In these days we can make words of the prologue of John ours: "We have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." Yes, these days we too have seen the glory of this Child. We had to set out, as the shepherds did. So did Mary and Joseph who had to leave their home in Nazareth and go all the way to Bethlehem. So did the Magi: they let themselves be guided by the star to reach the child and adore him.
There is, however, a journey that precedes us: that of the Son of God himself. Yes, the Lord, long before we journeyed towards him, set out to come among men and women, arriving in a town that did not welcome him and making do with a stable. The Word of God that we have heard opens a window on this journey of the Lord coming down to us. It is a passionate journey, full of love, all downhill. He has kept nothing for himself. His only ambition is to be among us and to save us. The book of Sirach tells us of the Wisdom that comes "forth from the mouth of the Most High" and sustains all things. Likewise, the evangelist John in the Prologue states that 'in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God ... he came to what was his own ... to live among us." Sirach reminds us of the command God gave Wisdom: "Make your dwelling in Jacob," the Lord said t- and in Israel receive your inheritance in Israel... And, Wisdom recalls, "I was established in Zion. Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place."
Behold, it is we, small and modest, weak and sinful people, whom God has chosen by making us a people so that his Word might dwell among us. The Church is the sanctuary of the Word of God. We are God's desired place, the end of his journey, as Sirach again writes: 'In the beloved city you gave me arresting place, and in Jerusalem was my domain. I took root in an honoured people, in the portion of the Lord, his heritage." We have been built as a people by God Himself: He chose us by grace, and calls us "beloved city," "His 'honoured people." It is the Lord who wants us "holy and spotless," that is, "children," just like Jesus.
That child is in the heart of each of us who must be born again. This new birth happens every time we welcome the Word of God into our hearts. As the evangelist John writes: "But to all who received him, he gave power to become children of God ... who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh, but of God." The Word of God is at the root of our being sons and daughters and of our brotherhood. It generates to a new life and becomes the power that makes us overcome the borders of evil and makes us witnesses of love and peace. What does "giving the power to become children of God" mean? It means that the Word generates us children of God and members of this holy people, a people that becomes the sanctuary of the Gospel for the world. And it is a generative power: those who are children of the Gospel, who allow themselves to be regenerated by the Word of God, become in turn capable of generating others to life. Gregory the Great said that the Word grows in us as we read it. And growth is not only for oneself, but to generate others to faith.