MONDAY AFTER EPIPHANY - Gospel (Mt 4:12-17. 23-25) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 4:17)

FIRST READING - 1 John 3:22–4:6

A. reading from the First Letter of John

Beloved:

We receive from him whatever we ask,

because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

And his commandment is this:

we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,

and love one another just as he commanded us.

Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,

and the way we know that he remains in us

is from the Spirit whom he gave us.

Beloved, do not trust every spirit

but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,

because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you can know the Spirit of God:

every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh

belongs to God,

and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus

does not belong to God.

This is the spirit of the antichrist

who, as you heard, is to come,

but in fact is already in the world.

You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,

for the one who is in you

is greater than the one who is in the world.

They belong to the world;

accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,

and the world listens to them.

We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,

while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.

This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - 4:12-17, 23-25

From the Gospel according to Matthew

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,

he withdrew to Galilee.

He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,

in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet

might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles,

the people who sit in darkness

have seen a great light,

on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death

light has arisen.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,

"Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."

He went around all of Galilee,

teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,

and curing every disease and illness among the people.

His fame spread to all of Syria,

and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases

and racked with pain,

those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,

and he cured them.

And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea,

and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

MONDAY AFTER EPIPHANY - Gospel (Mt 4:12-17. 23-25)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

In the Word of God today, God calls on all humanity to repent of their sins and return to God because the Kingdom of God is near.

This is a reminder for each person to always be mentally prepared for the day when God comes to take their soul and body out of this world: Repent, abandon the path of sin, resist the temptations of Satan and follow what God has taught through His commandments through the Church; through the voice of conscience that He has engraved in the heart of each person since birth, with a loving heart, a kind heart, tolerance, forgiveness and believe that we have a God who is the master of our soul and body, only God can bring eternal life to humans.

The image of Jesus Christ coming down to earth as a human, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven, calling people to repentance, and healing all diseases and disabilities among the people. That is the call of the Almighty and Merciful God. He sacrificed Himself, humbled Himself to become a human, to lovingly accompany people. He accepts the human condition with all the elements of a mortal body, except sin. Truly, there is no love as great as the Almighty God! A love that is humble, gentle, infinitely forgiving, and everlasting.

Today's Word of God calls on people to engrave His words into their souls and bodies, to put the Word into practice and not to live in sin anymore, not to live in the pleasures of lust, and passions for worldly material things anymore. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to transform us to become holy as God is holy. Know how to fear God, know how to love God above all things, know how to honor and obey God's Will in all places, at all times, and thank Him in all circumstances. At the same time, love others as yourself; eliminate evil acts, hatred, arrogance, and disobedience to God's Will. Do not deliberately ignore the voice of conscience so that Satan can blind you to lust and all kinds of passions that displease God.

Today's Word of God calls on all humanity to live a life of meekness, humility, love, forgiveness, fear and obedience to God's will, so that He may come and touch our souls and heal our souls as well as our bodies, so that God Himself can dispel our illnesses and afflictions, so that He may pull our bodies and souls out of Satan's quagmire of sin.

Thanks be to God. Amen.