January 5, 2019 Saturday, Christmas Weekday ST. JOHN NEUMANN, BISHOP

1 John 3:11-21

Psalm 100

John 1:43-51

Children let us not love in word or speech but in deed and truth.  1 John 3:18

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” John 1:46

Lord, I have to believe you had a chuckle when told what Nathaniel said about your home town.  A quick note to Nathaniel:  Out of Nazareth came the Son of God and Savior of mankind, that’s all!  It seems Nathaniel had prejudged everyone from such a small, unimportant town.  He labeled you and put you in a box before he even met you.  You were gentle and welcoming to him and told him you knew everything there was to know about him, yet you still called him into your inner circle.  Lord, I know I’ve done the same thing Nathaniel did.  I’ve prejudged people before getting to know them because of their race, creed, origin, or other characteristic.  I’ve listened to gossip about someone and made my mind up about them.  I know this is not loving “in deed and truth.”  I certainly wouldn’t want anyone judging me like that.  Lord, open my heart to be eager to welcome your children no matter where they come from, look like or how they speak.  Help me not to put others down to make myself appear better.  St. John Neumann pray for us.  Amen.