“We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. ” (1 John 5:19)
Saint Bede the Venerable comments on this verse from today’s First Reading:
“We know that we are of God because we have been born again by grace and baptism through faith, and we know too that we shall persevere in that faith to the very end. But those who love the world are subjected to the enemy, and there is no water of regeneration which can deliver them from that subjection, especially if they sin again after their baptism. Nor is it just the lovers of the world who are in this state, because it applies also to those who are newly born and who have inherited the guilt of original sin, although they cannot yet tell the difference between good and evil. Such people are in the power of the enemy, unless by the power of a loving Creator they are taken out of the power of darkness and placed in the kingdom of the Son of his love.” (On 1 John)
Collect
Almighty ever-living God,
who through Your Only Begotten Son
have made us a new creation for Yourself,
grant, we pray,
that by Your grace we may be found
in the likeness of Him,
in Whom our nature is united to You.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
who through Your Only Begotten Son
have made us a new creation for Yourself,
grant, we pray,
that by Your grace we may be found
in the likeness of Him,
in Whom our nature is united to You.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
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