Beloved: Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. I write you these things about those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him. And now, children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming.

Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.

This is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, "Who are you?" he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, "I am not the Messiah." So they asked him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?" He said: "I am 'the voice of one crying out in the desert, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as Isaiah the prophet said." Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Light leads us by the hand, strengthens us, teaches us, showing itself and fleeing when we need it. It is not when we want it – that belongs to the perfect – but it is when we are embarrassed and completely exhausted that it comes to our aid. It appears from afar and gives me to feel it in my heart. I scream until I choke as I want to grab it, but everything is darkness, and my poor hands are empty. I forget everything, I sit and cry, despairing of seeing her like this again. When I have cried well and consented to stop, then, coming mysteriously, she grabs my head, and I burst into tears without knowing who is there illuminating my mind with a gentle light. But when I recognized her, she quickly flew away, leaving in me the fire of her divine desire. Little by little it lights up and, fanned by waiting, it becomes a great flame which reaches the heavens, but is extinguished by laxity, the embarrassment of business and the worries of life.

The LORD said to Moses : "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them."

May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!

Brothers and sisters: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

If the Apostle, servant of Christ, continues to bring forth his children through his care and ardent desire until Christ is formed in them (cf. Gal 4:19), how much more is this true of Christ's own mother! Paul fathered them by preaching the Word which regenerated them; Mary did it in a much holier and more divine way by generating the Word itself. I praise in Paul the mystery of preaching, but I admire and venerate more in Mary the mystery of generation. She who is the Virgin-Mother, she who glories in having borne the Only-begotten Son of the Father, embraces that same Only-begotten of hers in all her members and so can be truly called Mother of all in whom she recognizes her Christ to have been formed, or in whom she knows he is being formed. Then again, is it not true that her children seem to recognise her as their Mother by a kind of instinctive devotion which faith gives them as second nature, so that first and foremost in all their needs and dangers they run to call upon her name just as children run to their mother’s breast? Already we really dwell in the help of the Mother of the Most High; we do live in her protection, as if under the shadow of her wing. So I do not think it is absurd to think that it is indeed these children that the prophet is talking about when he makes this promise: “Your sons will live in you” (Is 62.5; LXX); without losing sight of the fact that this prophecy applies mainly to the Church. already we all dwell in the help of the Mother of the Most High; we do live in her protection (Ps. 90: 1, 4), as if under the shadow of her wing (Ps. 16:8). And afterwards in participating in her glory we shall be cherished as if in her bosom. Then a single cry of rejoicing and thanksgiving will be heard addressed to this Mother: : "The dwelling place of all of us who rejoice and are glad is in you" (cf. Ps 86:7; LXX) holy Mother of God.

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the holy one, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; Announce his salvation day after day. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD. The LORD comes, he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'" From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him.