Daily Catholic Mass Readings for January 7, 2026
First Reading: 1 John 4.11-18
11Most beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another12No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us13In this way, we know that we abide in him, and he in us: because he has given to us from his Spirit14And we have seen, and we testify, that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world15Whoever has confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. And he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him17In this way, the love of God is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment. For as he is, so also are we, in this world18Fear is not in love. Instead, perfect love casts out fear, for fear pertains to punishment. And whoever fears is not perfected in love
Psalm 72
1A Psalm according to Solomon2Give your judgment, O God, to the king, and your justice to the king’s son, to judge your people with justice and your poor with judgment3Let the mountains take up peace for the people, and the hills, justice4He will judge the poor of the people, and he will bring salvation to the sons of the poor. And he will humble the false accuser5And he will remain, with the sun and before the moon, from generation to generation6He will descend like rain upon fleece, and like showers showering upon the earth7In his days, justice will rise like the sun, with abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away8And he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the limits of the whole world9In his sight, the Ethiopians will fall prostrate, and his enemies will lick the ground10The kings of Tarshish and the islands will offer gifts. The kings of Arabia and of Seba will bring gifts11And all the kings of the earth shall adore him. All nations will serve him12For he will free the poor from the powerful, and the poor one who has no helper13He will spare the poor and the indigent, and he will bring salvation to the souls of the poor14He will redeem their souls from usuries and from iniquity, and their names shall be honorable in his sight15And he will live, and to him will be given from the gold of Arabia, and by him they will always adore. They will bless him all day long16And there will be a firmament on earth, at the summits of mountains: its fruits will be extolled above Lebanon, and those of the city will flourish like the grass of the earth17May his name be blessed forever; may his name remain before the sun. And all the tribes of the earth will be blessed in him. All nations will magnify him18Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things19And blessed is the name of his majesty in eternity. And all the earth will be filled with his majesty. Amen. Amen20The praises of David, the son of Jesse, have reached an end
Gospel: Mark 6.45-52
45And without delay he urged his disciples to climb into the boat, so that they might precede him across the sea to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the people46And when he had dismissed them, he went to the mountain to pray47And when it was late, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land48And seeing them struggling to row, (for the wind was against them,) and about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking upon the sea. And he intended to pass by them49But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they thought it was an apparition, and they cried out50For they all saw him, and they were very disturbed. And immediately he spoke with them, and he said to them: "Be strengthened in faith. It is I. Do not be afraid.51And he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they became even more astonished within themselves52For they did not understand about the bread. For their heart had been blinded
Sermon
The First Letter of John reminds us that God's immense love for us calls us to love one another. If we truly love, God abides in us, and His love is perfected, dispelling all fear. To confess Jesus as the Son of God is to have God dwell within us, granting us confidence, for perfect love casts out the anxiety associated with judgment and punishment. In the Gospel of Mark, we see the disciples struggling against a violent storm, alone on the sea, after Jesus had dismissed the crowds and gone to pray. When they were at their most vulnerable, Jesus came to them, walking on the water, yet they mistook him for a ghost and cried out in terror. Jesus immediately reassures them with, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid," and when he entered the boat, the wind ceased, leaving them utterly astonished, their hearts still hardened in understanding.
These readings illuminate the profound connection between divine presence, love, and the overcoming of fear. John teaches that God's indwelling love perfects us and drives out fear, offering confidence in our relationship with Him. Mark shows Christ, in a moment of intense struggle and fear for his disciples, revealing his divine authority by walking on water and calming the storm, actively commanding them not to be afraid. The disciples' terror and subsequent astonishment reveal their human limitations and the incomplete understanding of Jesus's identity, despite having just witnessed his miracles. Their fear arose from not fully grasping who was with them, much like our own fears often stem from forgetting God's steadfast presence and power in our lives.
In our daily lives, we too encounter storms, both literal and metaphorical, that can fill us with fear and doubt. Just as Jesus came to his struggling disciples, he is present with us in our anxieties, urging us to recognize his loving presence and power. To live in God's perfect love, as John describes, means to trust deeply in Him, allowing that love to banish our fears and empower us to love others in turn. When we confess Jesus and strive to live lives of charity, we allow God to abide in us, providing the peace and confidence that anchors us through any storm, transforming our astonishment into unwavering faith and love, rather than the blindness that held the disciples captive.