Gospel of January 9, 2019

First letter of St. John the apostle 4,11-18.
Dear ones, if God loved us, we too must love one another.
Nobody has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us and his love is perfect in us.
From this it is known that we remain in him and he in us: he has given us the gift of his Spirit.
And we ourselves have seen and attest that the Father has sent his Son as savior of the world.
Anyone who recognizes that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.
We have recognized and believed in the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever is in love dwells in God and God dwells in him.
This is why love has reached its perfection in us, because we have faith in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we, in this world.
In love there is no fear, on the contrary perfect love casts out fear, because fear presupposes punishment and whoever fears is not perfect in love.

Salmi 72(71),2.10-11.12-13.
God give your judgment to the king,
your righteousness to the king's son;
Regain your people with justice
and your poor with righteousness.

The kings of Tarsis and the islands will bring offerings,
the kings of the Arabs and Sabas will offer tributes.
All kings will bow down to him,
all nations will serve it.

He will free the screaming poor man
and the wretch who finds no help,
he will have pity on the weak and the poor
and will save the life of his wretched.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark 6,45-52.
After the five thousand men were satisfied, Jesus ordered the disciples to get on the boat and precede him on the other shore, towards Bethsaida, while he would fire the crowd.
As soon as he had dismissed them, he went up to the mountain to pray.
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on land.
But seeing them all tired in rowing, because they had the wind against them, already towards the last part of the night he went towards them walking on the sea, and he wanted to go beyond them.
They, seeing him walking on the sea, thought: "He is a ghost", and they began to shout,
because everyone had seen him and was troubled. But he immediately spoke to them and said: "Come on, it's me, don't be afraid!"
Then he got into the boat with them and the wind stopped. And they were enormously surprised in themselves,
because they did not understand the fact of the loaves, their hearts being hardened.