We live in a world in which darkness looms. Too many distractions readily available to take away our focus from the light of the world; our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Sexually suggestive and immodest advertisements, pornography are rampant and easily accessible. More and more people are confused and then later convinced that Christians are wrong about the pride movement and abortion. Eventually they become blinded the world and Christ no longer holds dear to them. They forget the many times He was alongside them in their greatest trials and tribulations. How He comforted them and poured out His love and grace upon them and their family. Even led them to a community of disciples to journey on with them. They have allowed the antichrist of the world free reign in their lives.
What must we the faithful do? We are to keep our focus on the reign of God so as to lead others who have lost their way back into His Kingdom. Therefore it is imperative that we always start our day with the Word of God. We need to put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Only then in holiness can we walk alongside those who have been mislead, so as to lead them back to the path of life. The attack on the family and the sacredness of the family is a real and present danger! It is an attack on the Holy family of God and so we must stand ready to do battle for the sake of our humanity as beloved children of God our Heavenly Father. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. .
First reading
1 John 3:22-4:6
The Son of God has come and given us the power to know the true God
Whatever we ask God, we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.
It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world.
You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist, whose coming you were warned about.
Well, now he is here, in the world.
Children, you have already overcome these false prophets, because you are from God and you have in you one who is greater than anyone in this world; as for them, they are of the world, and so they speak the language of the world and the world listens to them.
But we are children of God, and those who know God listen to us; those who are not of God refuse to listen to us.
This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.
Gospel
Matthew 4:12-17,23-25
The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light
Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan,
Galilee of the nations!
The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.’
From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania.
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