Catholic Doctrine and the Sunday Readings for January 2025

The meaning of the Sunday Mass Readings for January 2025 is made clearest by Catholic Doctrine. The best take-away from the Sunday Readings is Catholic Doctrine that clarifies those Readings.

God wants Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium to be taken together (CCC 84-85[1]). Scripture and Tradition are the primary ways God has revealed Himself. They need to be interpreted. “The task of interpreting the Word of God [in Scripture and Tradition] has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him” (CCC 100).

Yet in order to be a good Catholic – to have the Faith and to live the Faith that God wants – we do not have to agree with every word from a pope or bishop. To be a good Catholic is to be obedient to Catholic Doctrine and church discipline. Catholic doctrines are the essentially unchangeable clarifications of Revelation and Faith that only the Magisterium has the God-given authority to make and that must be accepted as objectively true in order to be Catholic. Doctrine may never be contradicted, even by a pope or bishop. Discipline is the body of church rules, such as the Code of Canon Law and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. The Magisterium is free to change discipline. A change of discipline may never contradict doctrine. Every other communication on any topic from a pope or bishop is his personal opinion, which Catholics are bound to seriously consider but with which Catholics are not obligated to agree.

Let’s learn the doctrines in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which are supported by key verses from this January’s Readings.[2]

January 1, Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Only one verse from all of today’s Readings is cited by the Catechism in order to support the doctrine celebrated today: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (from the Second Reading). “The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates ‘the fullness of time’ . . . Mary was invited to conceive [Jesus] in whom the ‘whole fullness of deity’ would dwell ‘bodily’” (CCC 484). Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God because Jesus is God the Son. Today’s Gospel verse that Jesus “was conceived in the womb [of Mary]” also means that Mary is the Mother of God. CCC 485-507 and 963-972 elaborate on Mary’s unique role in salvation history.

“God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out. ‘Abba, Father!’” is a verse from the Second Reading which means that there is one God in three Divine Persons: The Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit (CCC 689). In fact, “[t]he mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. . . . It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’” (CCC 234). While Mary is the mother of God the Son, she is not the mother of God the Father or God the Holy Spirit.

• From the Second Reading[3] (Galatians 4:4-7): Gal 4:4-5 is cited in CCC 422; Gal 4:4 in CCC 484, 488, 527, 531, 580, and 702; Gal 4:5-7 in CCC 1265; and Gal 4:6 in CCC 683, 689, 693, 742, 1695, and 2766.
• From the Alleluia (Hebrews 1:1-2): Heb 1:1-2 is cited in CCC 65.
• From the Gospel (Luke 2:16-21): Lk 2:19 is cited in CCC 2599; and Lk 2:21 in CCC 527.

January 5, Epiphany of the Lord

The Epiphany, recounted in today’s Gospel, is “the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world” (CCC 528). The epiphany of Jesus to the magi, or wise men, from the East “means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world” (CCC 528). The magi are the first pagans to acknowledge Jesus as the Savior.

Although no verses from today’s other Readings are cited in the Catechism, they have the same theme as the Gospel. The First Reading and the Responsorial Psalm are Old Testament passages that promised before Christ that there would be a Messiah not only for Israel but also for the whole world. The Second Reading affirms the doctrine that Jesus is this Messiah and the Savior of the world,

God wants to be known by everyone, just as He wanted the magi to know Him. God wants everyone to know Him so that they can have a relationship with Him (CCC 27). And so at the end of His time on earth the Holy One, to whom the magi did homage, left His disciples with the commission, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). The best way to know God and have a relationship with Him is in the Catholic Church, “established by Christ on the foundation of the Apostles, possessing the fullness of the means of salvation which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession” (CCC Glossary, “Catholic Church”).

• From the Alleluia (Matthew 2:2): see below.
• From the Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12): Mt 2:1-12 is cited in CCC 486; Mt 2:1 in CCC 528; Mt 2:2 in CCC 439 and 528; Mt 2:4-6 in CCC 528; and Mt 2:11 in CCC 724.

January 12, The Baptism of the Lord

At the end of today’s Gospel, God the Father “affirms [Jesus’] eternal preexistence” (CCC 444). Jesus is God the Son.

The Catechism cites verses from today’s First Reading and Gospel to explain why Jesus, God the Son, was baptized. Jesus’ baptism is his “acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God’s suffering Servant.” “He allows himself to be numbered among sinners.” “[A]lready he is anticipating the ‘baptism’ of his bloody death.” “The Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the ‘Servant Songs’ [in the Book of Isaiah, one of which is today’s First Reading]” (CCC 713). The Suffering Servant “silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes” (CCC 608), especially in His atoning crucifixion.

The opening of heaven and the descent of the Spirit are “a prelude to the new creation (CCC 536)” which will culminate in the new heavens and the new earth of the Kingdom of God. So Jesus’ baptism reveals He is the Messiah, “whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively” (CCC 436).

• From the First Reading (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7): Is 42:1-9 is cited in CCC 713; Is 42:1 in CCC 536 and 555; Is 42:3 in CCC 580; and Is 42:6 in CCC 580.
• From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 9-10): Ps 29:2 is cited in CCC 2143.
• From the Second Reading (Acts 10:34-38): Acts 10:35 is cited in CCC 761; and Acts 10:38 in CCC 438, 453, 486, and 1289.
• From the Alleluia (Mark 9:7): Mk 9:7 is cited in CCC 151 and 459.
• From the Gospel (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22): Lk 3:16 is cited in CCC 696; Lk 3:21 in CCC 608 and 2600; and Lk 3:22 in CCC 536.

January 19, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel “reveals how Mary prays and intercedes in faith. At Cana, the mother of Jesus asks her son for the needs of a wedding feast” (CCC 2618). “Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, . . . shows the way” (CCC 2674). “Because of Mary’s singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray in communion with the Virgin Mary, to magnify the great things the Lord has done . . . and to entrust supplications . . . to her” (CCC 2682).

“The Church attaches great importance to Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence” (CCC 1613). It is one way Jesus instituted Marriage to be one of the Seven Sacraments, with its own call and graces (CCC 1601-1666).

Also, the “sign of water turned into wine at Cana . . . makes manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father’s kingdom” (CCC 1335). One way to understand eternity in the Kingdom of God is to realize that it will be the ultimate feast (CCC 1344).

• From the First Reading (Isaiah 62:1-5): Is 62:4-5 is cited in CCC 219.
• From the Responsorial (Psalm 96: 1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10): Ps 96:2 is cited in CCC 2143.
• From the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 12:4-11): 1 Cor 12:3 is cited in CCC 152, 449, 455, 683, 2670, and 2681; 1 Cor 12:4-6 in CCC 249; 1 Cor 12:6 in CCC 308; 1 Cor 12:7 in CCC 801 and 951; and 1 Cor 12:9 in CCC 1508.
• From the Gospel (John 2:1-12): Jn 2:1-12 is cited in CCC 2618; Jn 2:1-11 in CCC 1613; Jn 2:1 in CCC 495; and Jn 2:11 in CCC 486 and 1335.

January 26, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

With this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, we begin Sunday Gospel Readings from the Gospel of Luke that will continue throughout Ordinary Time since we are in Cycle C of Sunday Mass Readings. (In Cycle A, the Gospel of Matthew is emphasized; in Cycle B, the Gospel of Mark.)

Before Jesus, priests, prophets, and kings of the Chosen People had been anointed. “This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet.” And so Jesus said that the passage (from the Book of Isaiah) He read in the synagogue, in today’s Gospel, was fulfilled in Him because “Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet, and king” (CCC 436). Furthermore, Christ calls each Catholic to be priest, prophet, and king, which is to sanctify, to teach, and to govern, respectively (CCC 873). Those who receive Holy Orders participate in these offices in their way (CCC 888-896), and those not ordained participate in their way (CCC 901-913).

The year acceptable to the Lord proclaimed by Jesus in today’s Gospel is every year to the degree that it “is transfigured by the liturgy . . . and the kingdom of God enters into our time” (CCC 1168).

• From the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 12:12-30): 1 Cor 12:13 is cited in CCC 694, 790, 798, 1227, 1267, and 1396; 1 Cor 12:26-27 in CCC 953; 1 Cor 12:26 in CCC 1469; 1 Cor 12:27 in CCC 1265; 1 Cor 12:28 in CCC 1508; and 1 Cor 12:30 in CCC 1508.
• Alleluia (Luke 4:18): see below.
• From the Gospel (Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21): Lk 4:16-21 is cited in CCC 436; Lk 4:18-19 in CCC 695 and 714; Lk 4:18 in CCC 544 and 2443; and Lk 4:19 in CCC 1168.

[1] CCC abbreviates Catechism of the Catholic Church. Any number after it is the number of a paragraph in the Catechism. For example, “CCC 84-85” means paragraphs 84-85 of the Catechism.

[2] There are too many citations, or references, in the Catechism to the verses in a month of Sunday Mass Readings to identify all the pertinent doctrines, so I will use my best judgment to select which verses and doctrines to cover in a column that may not exceed 2,000 words. The bullet points allow you to explore further the Biblical basis of Catholic Doctrine.

[3] If a Reading is not listed, then none of its verses is cited by the CCC.