DEVOTIONAL PRAYER FOR JANUARY
New Year Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit,
Spirit of the Risen Christ, be with us today and always.
Be our Light, our Guide, and our Comforter.
Be our Strength, Courage, and our Sanctifier.
May this New Year be a time of deep spiritual growth for us,
A time of welcoming your graces and gifts,
A time for forgiving freely and unconditionally,
A time for growing in virtue and goodness.
Come Holy Spirit, be with us always.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Entrance Antiphon
After the Lord was baptised, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
1st Reading (Is 55:1-11)
A reading from the prophet Isaiah.
Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty, though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live. With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of the favours promised to David. See, I have made of you a witness to the peoples, a leader and a master of the nations. See, you will summon a nation you never knew, those unknown will come hurrying to you, for the sake of the Lord your God, of the Holy One of Israel who will glorify you. Seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to him while he is still near. Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn back to the Lord who will take pity on him, to our God who is rich in forgiving; for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts. Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
The Word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.
2nd Reading (1 Jn 5:1-9)
As reading from the first letter of St. John.
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets. We can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world – our faith. Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three of them agree. We accept the testimony of human witnesses, but God’s testimony is much greater, and that is God’s testimony, given as evidence for his Son.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia. John saw Jesus approaching him, and said: This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Alleluia!
Gospel (Mk 1:7-11)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Mark.
In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said, ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’ It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John. No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’
The Gospel of the Lord.
Communion Antiphon
Behold the One of whom John said: I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.
Next Week’s Readings
1 Sam 3:3-10,19; 1 Cor 6:13-15, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42
PARISH NEWS
PARISH OFFICE CLOSURE
The Parish Office is closed for the Christmas break and will reopen on Monday, 11 Jan. Bulletins for 3 & 10 Jan are single sheets with mass readings. Normal bulletins will resume on 17 Jan, along with names for Death Anniversaries, Recently Deceased and Sick List.
PIETY STORE
Columban Calendars are available for $9 each, God’s Word 2021 is available for $19.95. Limited stock available. Kindly contact Margaret Newman on 0432 044 416 for further details.
AUSTRALIA DAY TUESDAY 26TH JANUARY
Mass at 8:30am with the singing of our National Anthem.
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD (also know as CANDLEMAS), TUESDAY 2nd FEBRUARY, 8:30AM MASS
A special 'Blessing of Candles' will be given at the 8:30am Mass. Everyone is invited to bring their own candles and place them on the table near the Sanctuary before the start of Mass. These blessed candles serve as a symbol of Jesus Christ, who referred to Himself as the Light of the World.