The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-02-18

ship" prepared BY the Kew. John
coIlopy of Boulder, Mont, is here
appended:
When the priest has impaired the
blessing to the people. he proceeds to
the gospel side of the altar and reads
generally the beginning of the Cos.
pei according to st. John I say gem
orally, because ON some days another
gospel is read for example, on the
third Mass son Christmas day, i'm the
private Masses on Palm Sunday, spe-
cial feasts falling on Sundays and on
vigifss having special gospel. The
reading of the last gospel is preced-
cd by the ordinary greeting, "The
Lord be with you," to which the AGO.
byte replies, 'And with ~thy spirit
The priest then says, THE beginning
of the holy gospel according to ST.
john" observing that he does not use
the, book to make the sign of the
cross with his right thumb on the
altar or the chart. The acolyte says,
'Glory be to Thee, o Lord" The
priest continues, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word. was God. The
same was in the beginning woth God.
All things were made by Him; and
without Him was made nothing that
was made. In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in darkness, and the
a al
There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John. This man
came for a witness, to give testi-
meny of the light, that all men might
believe, through Him. He was not
the, light, but was to give testimony
of the light. That was the true light
which enighteneth every man that
cometh into the world. He was in
the world, and the world was. made
by Him, and the world knew Him
not He came unto His own and His
own received Him not. But as many
received Him, He gave them power
to be made the sons of God, to them
that believe in His name, who are
born.r not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God And the Word was made
flesh. and idwelt among us and we
saw His glory, the glory as it were
of the only begotten Of the Father
? full of grace and truth"
Dates From Middle Ages.
The practice of reading the gospel
So I'll IA Of
dates from the Middle Ages. A spe-
rciaf devotion of the faithful towards
the reading of the gospels in general,
and the gospel of st. John in partic-
'ular, gave occasion to it. In those
days, as in the first ages of Christian
-ity, the faithful considered it great
favor to have part OF the gospel.
especially the gospel of st. John, read
over them. The demands for it be.
came so numerous that it was impos-
sibfe for the priest to satisfy the wish
es of all. 1t was then thought advis-
able to read the beginning of the gos-
pei of st. John, over all present, at
the end of Mass. The Church holds
the reading of this gospel in great es-
TEEN; she reads it not only at the end
of Mass, but also in many other cir
-cumstances. For instance, we find it
in the Roman ritual among the pray
ers said by the priest when he visits
the sick. 1t is used especially to frus-
4trate and subdue the violence of the
evil one by the power OF the Savior.
and not without reason. because in
these words We have a synopsis OF the
whole revelation, in other words. our
faith. In this gospel, We find express
ed many of the greatest mysteries of
our holy religion. From it we learn
that: +.
What It Teaches.
/. The Word is eternal, because it
was before everything temporal ": u.
& q The Word is the Creator OF the
universe, because by Him all things
came into beingf(v..3).
8. The Word is distinct from the
Father, because He was with the Fa-
Their. ,tv. ~. .<e
4. The Word is the only begotten
Son of God, because He has the glory
becoming the only begotten of the Fa-
theF-ess14.
5. The Word is God ". ID. <
g. The Word became man, because
He became flesh Nv. 14). M >
z. Jesus is the incarnate Word, be.
cause this is He of Whom the Bap-
list said: after me eometh man,
who is preferred before me-" etc.
aJohn l., SOD.
S. Jesus is God, because the Word
is God (ysD.
A brief paraphrase of the gospel
itself win make this clear.
Source Of All Creation. >
In the beginning of time, the Word
already was, therefore, the Word was
eternal, and the Word was with God,
the first person OF the blessed Trim
ity, differing, however, from the Fa-
Their In person. and the Word was
{ God. All created things have received
their existence through Him, and with
out Him.. nothing has existence OF
all that exists. In Him, as in its
source. is supernatural life, and that
life is a light for man by the gift OF
faith, and this light Of faith shines
continually in the darkness OF igno-
rance and sin, and the men who were
surrounded by the darkness did not
receive 1t. There was man sent by
God whose name was John. He came
-@1xnr n