Sunday, January 10, 2016
Liturgical Season: 
II The Season of Yaldo-Denho
Special Significance: 
I Sunday after Denho
Mar Gregory of Nyssa

Jn 1:35-42

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

Ex 3:1-15

1* Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock beyond the wilderness, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb.* 2There the angel of the LORD* appeared to him as fire flaming out of a bush.a When he looked, although the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed. 3So Moses decided, “I must turn aside to look at this remarkable sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” 4When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to look, God called out to him from the bush: Moses! Moses! He answered, “Here I am.” 5God said: Do not come near! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.b 6I am the God of your father,* he continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.c Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

The Call and Commission of Moses. 7But the LORD said: I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry against their taskmasters, so I know well what they are suffering. 8Therefore I have come down* to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them up from that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.d 9Now indeed the outcry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

11But Moses said to God, “Who am I* that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12God answered: I will be with you; and this will be your sign* that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God at this mountain. 13“But,” said Moses to God, “if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what do I tell them?” 14God replied to Moses: I am who I am.* Then he added: This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.

15God spoke further to Moses: This is what you will say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.

This is my name forever;e

this is my title for all generations.

Wis 7:1-12

1I too am a mortal, the same as all the rest,a

and a descendant of the first one formed of earth.*

And in my mother’s womb I was molded into flesh

2in a ten-month period*—body and blood,

from the seed of a man, and the pleasure that accompanies marriage.

3And I too, when born, inhaled the common air,

and fell upon the kindred earth;

wailing, I uttered that first sound common to all.

4In swaddling clothes and with constant care I was nurtured.

5For no king has any different origin or birth;

6one is the entry into life for all,

and in one same way they leave it.b

7Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me;

I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.c

8I preferred her to scepter and throne,d

And deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,

9nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;

Because all gold, in view of her, is a bit of sand,

and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.

10Beyond health and beauty I loved her,

And I chose to have her rather than the light,

because her radiance never ceases.e

11Yet all good things together came to me with her,f

and countless riches at her hands;

12I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader,

though I had not known that she is their mother.* g

Ps 147:1-11

1Hallelujah!

How good to sing praise to our God;

how pleasant to give fitting praise.a

2The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem,

and gathers the dispersed of Israel,b

3Healing the brokenhearted,

and binding up their wounds.c

4He numbers the stars,

and gives to all of them their names.d

5Great is our Lord, vast in power,

with wisdom beyond measure.e

6The LORD gives aid to the poor,

but casts the wicked to the ground.f

7Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;

with the lyre make music to our God,g

8*Who covers the heavens with clouds,

provides rain for the earth,

makes grass sprout on the mountains,h

9Who gives animals their food

and young ravens what they cry for.i

10*He takes no delight in the strength of horses,

no pleasure in the runner’s stride.j

11Rather the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,

those who put their hope in his mercy.

Is 1:4-20

4Ah!* Sinful nation, people laden with wickedness,

evil offspring, corrupt children!

They have forsaken the LORD,

spurned the Holy One of Israel,

apostatized,c

5Why* would you yet be struck,

that you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

the whole heart faint.

6From the sole of the foot to the head

there is no sound spot in it;

Just bruise and welt and oozing wound,

not drained, or bandaged,

or eased with salve.

7Your country is waste,

your cities burnt with fire;

Your land—before your eyes

strangers devour it,

a waste, like the devastation of Sodom.* d

8And daughter Zion* is left

like a hut in a vineyard,

Like a shed in a melon patch,

like a city blockaded.

9If the LORD of hosts* had not

left us a small remnant,

We would have become as Sodom,

would have resembled Gomorrah.e

10* Hear the word of the LORD,

princes of Sodom!

Listen to the instruction of our God,

people of Gomorrah!

11What do I care for the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the LORD.

I have had enough of whole-burnt rams

and fat of fatlings;

In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats

I find no pleasure.f

12When you come to appear before me,

who asks these things of you?

13Trample my courts no more!

To bring offerings is useless;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and sabbath, calling assemblies—

festive convocations with wickedness—

these I cannot bear.g

14Your new moons and festivals I detest;h

they weigh me down, I tire of the load.

15When you spread out your hands,

I will close my eyes to you;

Though you pray the more,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood!* i

16Wash yourselves clean!

Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;

cease doing evil;

17learn to do good.

Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,

hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.j

18Come now, let us set things right,*

says the LORD:

Though your sins be like scarlet,

they may become white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson,

they may become white as wool.k

19If you are willing, and obey,

you shall eat the good things of the land;

20But if you refuse and resist,

you shall be eaten by the sword:

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!

1 Pt 3:8-17

Christian Conduct.* 8Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble. 9Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing.d 10For:

“Whoever would love lifee

and see good days

must keep the tongue from evil

and the lips from speaking deceit,

11must turn from evil and do good,

seek peace and follow after it.

12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears turned to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against evildoers.”

Christian Suffering.* 13Now who is going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good? 14But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, 15but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,f 16but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

Phil 1:12-20

12i I want you to know, brothers, that my situation has turned out rather to advance the gospel, 13so that my imprisonment has become well known in Christ throughout the whole praetorium* and to all the rest,j 14* and so that the majority of the brothers, having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the word fearlessly.

15Of course, some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, others from good will. 16The latter act out of love, aware that I am here for the defense of the gospel; 17the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not from pure motives, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment. 18What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed?k And in that I rejoice.*

Indeed I shall continue to rejoice, 19* for I know that this will result in deliverance for me* through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.l 20My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.m

Jn 1:43-51

43The next day he* decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”b 46But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite.* There is no duplicity in him.” 48* c Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” 49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God;* you are the King of Israel.”d 50Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?* You will see greater things than this.” 51And he said to him, “Amen, amen,* I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”e