Readings for Sunday 12 January 2025
4 Tubah 1741
First Sunday of Tubah
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 47 : 1 - 2
| 1 | Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! |
| 2 | For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Luke 4 : 40 - 44
| 40 | When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. |
| 41 | And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. |
| 42 | Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; |
| 43 | but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." |
| 44 | And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. |
Glory be to God forever.
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Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 93 : 1 - 2
| 1 | The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. |
| 2 | Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Luke 4 : 31 - 37
| 31 | Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. |
| 32 | And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. |
| 33 | Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, |
| 34 | saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" |
| 35 | But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. |
| 36 | Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." |
| 37 | And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. |
Glory be to God forever.
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Divine Liturgy
Pauline Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God. A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Romans.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Romans 15 : 4 - 19
| 4 | For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. |
| 5 | Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, |
| 6 | that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 7 | Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. |
| 8 | Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, |
| 9 | and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name." |
| 10 | And again he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!" |
| 11 | And again: "Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!" |
| 12 | And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope." |
| 13 | Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. |
| 14 | Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. |
| 15 | Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, |
| 16 | that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. |
| 17 | Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. |
| 18 | For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient-- |
| 19 | in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. John . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 John 3 : 1 - 11
| 1 | Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. |
| 2 | Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. |
| 3 | And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. |
| 4 | Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. |
| 5 | And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. |
| 6 | Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. |
| 7 | Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. |
| 8 | He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. |
| 9 | Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. |
| 10 | In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. |
| 11 | For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, |
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Amen.
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Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us. Amen.
Acts 14:24-28 Acts 15:1-3
| 24 | And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. |
| 25 | Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. |
| 26 | From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. |
| 27 | Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. |
| 28 | So they stayed there a long time with the disciples. |
| 1 | And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." |
| 2 | Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. |
| 3 | So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.
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Synaxarium
Day 4 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Tubah.
May God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins are forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers. Amen.
The Fourth Day of the Blessed Month of Tubah
Departure of St.John the Evangelist and
Theologian
On this day, in the year
100 A.D., St. John, the virgin, the evangelist, and apostle who was the
son of Zebedee, departed. St. John Chrysostom (of the Golden Mouth) said
that St. John the Evangelist was originally a disciple of St. John the
Baptist. He was the brother of St. James the Elder, who was killed by Herod
by the sword. The Lord called him with his brother "Boanerges" (Mark 3:17),
that is "sons of thunder," for their strong zeal and great faith. He was
also the disciple whom Jesus loved. The lot fell on him to go to Asia.
The people of this area were stiff-necked, so he prayed to Christ to be
with him. He went to Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. They
embarked on a ship, but the ship was wrecked on the way and every one of
the passengers clung to a plank of the ship's wood. The waves washed out
Prochorus to an island, but St. John remained among the waves of the sea
for several days, until the waves carried him, by the will of God, to the
same island where his disciple Prochorus was. When they met together, they
offered thanks to God for taking care of them.
From there, St. John went
to the city of Ephesus where he preached the word of salvation. Its people
did not accept his message at first, until a day when an only child fell
in the furnace of a public bath managed by the child's mother. They took
him in haste out of the fire, but he was dead and his mother wept bitterly.
At this time, St. John went to the child, prayed fervently to God, made
the sign of the Cross over him, breathed in the child's face, and life
came back to him right away. His mother rejoiced and she kissed the feet
of the Apostle and tears of joy were in her eyes. From this time on, the
people of the city came to hear his teachings and many of them believed
and were baptized by St. John. This made the priests of the idols resent
him and they tried to kill him several times but they could not, for the
Lord protects all His chosen ones. After a great effort and many hardships,
St. John led them to the knowledge of God and ordained bishops and priests
for them.
From there, he went to other places in Asia (Minor) and converted many
of its people to the Faith of Christ. This saint lived 90 years, and they
used to carry him to the gatherings of the believers. Because of his old
age, he only gave them very short sermons saying, "My children, love one
another." He wrote the gospel known after him, and the Book of Revelation
which he had seen on the island of Patmos, which is full of divine mysteries.
He also wrote the three epistles known by his name.
He was with the Lord Jesus
Christ at the Transfiguration. He leaned (reclined) on the chest of our
Lord at the Last Supper. He asked the Lord, "Who is he that shall betray
you?" He was standing near the Cross with the Virgin St. Mary and the Lord
said to his mother, "Behold your Son," and to John, "Behold your mother."
He was the disciple about whom Peter asked the Lord, "And this one, what
of him?" The Lord said to Peter, "If it be that I wish him to be here until
I come, what is that to you?" When St. John felt that he was about to depart
from this world, he summoned the people and administered to them the Body
and the Blood of the Lord. He preached and commanded them to be steadfast
in their faith. He then departed from the City of Ephesus for a short distance.
He commanded his disciple and others with him to dig there a pit for him.
He went down in it, raised his hands and prayed and then bade them farewell.
He commanded them to return to the city and to confirm the brethren in
the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and said to them, "I am innocent of
your blood, for I did not leave any command of God that I haven't taught
you, and now, let it be known that you will never see my face again, and
God will reward everyone according to his deeds." When he said that, they
kissed his hand and his feet, and they left him and returned to the city.
When the people knew what had happened, they went out to where the saint
was, and they found that he had departed. They wept and were deeply sad.
They talked about his miracles and marvelled about his meekness. In spite
of the fact that he did not die by the sword, as the rest of the apostles
did, he was equal to them in the heavenly glories, for his virginity and
his holiness.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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Divine Liturgy Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 98 : 2 - 3
| 2 | The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. |
| 3 | He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 2 : 13 - 23
| 13 | Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." |
| 14 | When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, |
| 15 | and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." |
| 16 | Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. |
| 17 | Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: |
| 18 | "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more." |
| 19 | Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, |
| 20 | saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." |
| 21 | Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. |
| 22 | But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. |
| 23 | And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene." |
Glory be to God forever.
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