January 5, 2006, Memorial of St. John Newman, Bishop.

A reading from the first letter of St. John.

Beloved, we receive from him whatever we ask,

because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

And his commandment is this. We should believe in the

name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as He commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him

and he in them.

And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit whom He gave us.

Beloved, do not trust every Spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,

because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you can know the spirit of God.

Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh, belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong

to God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist who as you heard is to come but in fact is

already in the world. You belong to God, and you have conquered them. For the one who is in you

is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world. Accordingly, their teaching

belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.

We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God

refuses to hear us.

This is how we know, the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

The Word of the Lord.

The Responsorial Psalm. The response is, I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.

The Lord said to me, you are my son. This day I have begotten you.

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