THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 27, 2024
Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Friday, the Third Day in the Octave of Christmas!
On this Special Feast day of St. John the Apostle, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for all those who preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God. We pray for God’s grace and mercy and for the safety and well-being of our children and for peace in our family and the whole world. We continue to remember the souls of the faithful departed and the souls in Purgatory. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
“Blessed are those who have died in the Lord; let them rest from their abors for their good deeds go with them.” ~ Rev 14:13
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary | December 27, 2024 | EWTN on YouTube |
https://www.youtube.com/live/DCSuDzTfYys?si=9XUbm9scVCjfOw28
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | December 27, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary for Peace with Pope Francis” | LIVE Basilica of St. Mary Major | October 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | December 27, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| December 27, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” oùn YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Friday, Third Day in the Octave of Christmas, December 27, 2024
Reading 1, First John 1:1-4
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12
Gospel, John 20: 1a, 2-8
THE LITURGICAL YEAR IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/12/03/the-liturgical-year-in-the-catholic-church/
THE HOLY ROSARY: WHAT IS THE HOLY ROSARY AND WHY DO WE PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/21/the-holy-rosary-what-is-the-holy-rosary-and-why-do-we-pray-the-holy-rosary/
THE SAINTS: WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY CANONISED? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/01/the-saints-who-are-they-and-how-are-they-canonised/
PURGATORY: WHAT IS PURGATORY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/15/purgatory-and-limbo/
SAINT OF THE DAY: FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST – FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 27TH: Today is the Third Day in the Octave of Christmas and we celebrate the Feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.
SAINT JOHN THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST: St. John the Evangelist (1st c.), the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Great, was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His Public Ministry. He was one of the Twelve Apostles, and one of the three in Jesus’ inner circle, along with his brother, James, and Simon Peter. St. John was the disciple who reclined on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper, and the only one of the twelve to not forsake Christ during His crucifixion and death. Saint John, traditionally is regarded as the author of the fourth Gospel. In addition to being called “The Evangelist” he is also known as the “Beloved Disciple.” He is often identified with the person referred to in the fourth Gospel as ‘the disciple that Jesus loved’. He became the “beloved disciple” and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. St. John stood faithfully at the foot of the Cross alongside the other holy women, and therefore he was the disciple to whom Jesus entrusted the care and guardian of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, St. John was an important leader of the Church in Jerusalem. St. John’s later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and at Ephesus. He founded many Churches in Asia Minor. He wrote the fourth Gospel that bears his name and three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation, called the Apocalypse, is also attributed to him. Although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death. Tradition relates that, brought to Rome, he was by order of Emperor Domitian cast into a caldron of boiling oil but came forth unhurt and was banished to the island of Patmos for a year. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow Apostles. He is the only one of the Twelve Apostles who was not martyred, instead being exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea under the persecution of Roman Emperor Domitian. He died at Ephesus about the year 100. St. John is called the Apostle of Charity, a virtue that learned from his Divine Master and constantly inculcated by word and example. The “Beloved Disciple” died at Ephesus, where a stately church was erected over his tomb. It was afterward converted into a Mohammedan mosque. He’s the Patron Saint of Asia Minor. St. John the Evangelist’s feast day is December 27th.
PRAYER: God, through St. John the Apostle You willed to unlock to us the secrets of Your Word. Grant that what he has so excellently poured into our ears, we may properly understand. Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 20: 1a, 2-8
“The other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; and he saw and believed”
“On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered His head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Mary Magdalene, Peter and John the Evangelist referred to as “the disciple that Jesus loved’ all found the tomb of Jesus empty on that first Easter morning. However, it is only of the disciple Jesus loved that it is said, ‘he saw and he believed’. He alone saw the empty tomb as a sign that Jesus had risen from the dead. Whereas when Mary Magdalene saw the empty tomb she thought that Jesus’ body had been stolen, when this disciple saw the empty tomb he knew that Jesus had triumphed over death and was now alive with a new quality of life. Two days after celebrating the feast of Christmas, we have an Easter Gospel reading. This is because today being the feast of St John the evangelist, the author of the fourth Gospel and, traditionally, has been identified with ‘the other disciple, the one Jesus loved’, mentioned in today’s Gospel reading. He’s someone who saw more deeply than others, who recognized the presence of the risen Lord in places where others failed to see Him. He saw with the eyes of faith. This is the quality of seeing that we are all called to have and that we need to pray for. One of the most memorable lines of the fourth Gospel is ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. Because the Word became flesh, the Word who is God is present in all flesh, in all of human life. He is present even in those unpromising places where we might expect only death to be found, as in the tomb of today’s Gospel reading. Christmas is the feast of Emmanuel, God with us, and today’s Gospel reading reminds us that the risen Lord is always with us, even in those times when we are tempted to feel He has abandoned us. We pray for something of that deeper seeing of the beloved disciple, so that all flesh can begin to speak to us of the Word who is God. On this feast of Saint John, he is the disciple who encourages all of us to give ourselves wholeheartedly in love to Jesus as He has given Himself fully in love to us.
In our first reading today, from the Epistle of St. John to all the faithful people of God, St. John yet again testifying about the Lord, highlighting how the Love of God has manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Whose every works and good deeds, wonders and miracles, wisdom and teachings he had witnessed and heard. St. John hence shared of what he had experienced and believed in, and placed particular emphasis on the Incarnation of the Word, the Divine Word of God, the Son, in the flesh, to come down into our midst as the Saviour of all. Like that of another of very popular quote from his Gospel, St. John wrote of the exchanges between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisee, Nicodemus in which Jesus said that, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave us all His only beloved Son, so that all those who believed in Him may not perish but have eternal life.’
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this special feast of St. John, we are reminded that each and every one of us are also witnesses and bearers of this same truth which St. John had himself received from the Lord, and just like St. John who had to labour and faced a lot of trials over the many years that he had spent in his ministry and calling as an Apostle and also an Evangelist, all of us as God’s holy people, the members of His same Church and part of that same one flock should therefore also carry out the respective missions, vocations and callings that each one of us have received as disciples and followers of the Lord. We cannot be ignorant of the responsibilities that each one of us as Christians have in being good bearers of the truth of God and as the beacons of His light and hope. Christmas should no longer be about ourselves or be about our pleasures and happiness, while forgetting about others and those who are suffering around us. Instead of a selfish celebration and excessive merrymaking and feasting, we should be ever more committed as the followers and disciples of the Lord, in showing one another what true Christian love is all about, sharing the same love that Christ our Lord had come bearing with Him into this world, by reaching out to the less fortunate and all those who are not able to celebrate Christmas the way we do. Let us also seek reconciliation and forgiveness from one another for all the past faults we have made as well. May the Lord through the examples and life of His faithful servant and Apostle, St. John, continue to strengthen and inspire us to be ever more dedicated and faithful in all things. May He help us to appreciate and understand better what He had Himself done for us so that we too may become good witnesses and bearers of His love, His truth and His ways. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to see with the eyes of faith to become aware of the Lord’s presence, even in those situations where he seems to be absent. May the Lord bless our every efforts and endeavours, our every actions and good works at all times, now and forevermore. Amen🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF DECEMBER:
MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: The month of December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Chosen before time to be the Mother of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, God created Mary perfect and full of grace, preserving her from the stain of Original Sin. Mary Immaculate is the most beautiful fruit of the work of redemption accomplished by her Son, thereby making her the perfect model of holiness for all Christians.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER – FOR PILGRIMS OF HOPE: We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, on this feast day of St. John the Evangelist, we humbly pray for all those who preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God. We pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world today, as we face these incredibly challenging times. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the safety and well-being of all those traveling during this season of Christmas. We pray for the sick and dying, especially sick children, those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for an end to war, political and religious unrest. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and we pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for torture victims, the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. We pray for all parents and children, for peace, love, justice and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world… Amen🙏
Let us pray:
My beloved Lord, the love You bestowed upon the disciple John was perfect in every way. After Your ascension into Heaven, You continued to deepen Your relationship with him, drawing him ever closer to Your Sacred Heart. Please pour forth upon me that same love and draw me into Your Heart so that I, too, will become Your beloved disciple. Saint John, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe….have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary, St. John the Apostle and Evangelist ~ Pray for us 🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Journey mercies for all those traveling during this Christmas season. Wishing all of us a most blessed, safe and grace-filled Christmas Season and relaxing weekend! Amen🙏
Blessings and love always, Philomena💖
Daily Reflections | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/
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