Monday 17
December 2012
First reading
Genesis
49:2,8-10
Jacob called his sons and said:
‘Gather round, sons of Jacob, and
listen;
listen to Israel your father.
Judah, your brothers shall praise you:
you grip your enemies by the neck,
your father’s sons shall do you homage,
Judah is a lion cub,
you climb back, my son, from your kill;
like a lion he crouches and lies down,
or a lioness: who dare rouse him?
The sceptre shall not pass from Judah,
nor the mace from between his feet,
until he come to whom it belongs,
to whom the peoples shall render
obedience.
This Word
will ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Through
his Cross and Resurrection he rules for ever. “All authority in heaven and
earth has been given to me”, he will say after his Resurrection.
Psalm
Psalm
71:1-4,7-8,17
In his days justice shall flourish, and
peace till the moon fails.
O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
and your poor in right judgement.
In his days justice shall flourish, and
peace till the moon fails.
May the mountains bring forth peace for
the people
and the hills, justice.
May he defend the poor of the people
and save the children of the needy.
In his days justice shall flourish, and
peace till the moon fails.
In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to earth’s bounds.
In his days justice shall flourish, and
peace till the moon fails.
May his name be blessed for ever
and endure like the sun.
Every tribe shall be blessed in him,
all nations bless his name.
In his days justice shall flourish, and
peace till the moon fails.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Wisdom of the Most High,
ordering all things with strength and
gentleness,
come and teach us the way of truth.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Matthew
1:1-17
A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of
David, son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his
brothers,
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah,
Tamar being their mother,
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab
being his mother,
Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being
his mother,
Obed was the father of Jesse;
and Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose
mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah
the father of Asa,
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Azariah,
Azariah was the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah;
and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah
and his brothers.
Then the deportation to Babylon took
place.
After the deportation to Babylon:
Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor was the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud was the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob;
and Jacob was the father of Joseph the
husband of Mary;
of her was born Jesus who is called
Christ.
The sum of generations is therefore:
fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian
deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ.
Unfaithful People but a Faithful God
Many find this list
of names boring. Nonetheless, it contains the Good News of Jesus Christ. In
Jesus, Son of Abraham, and Son of David, God fulfils his promise to raise up
one who will rule forever. The ancestors of Jesus show us a line of sinners. Judah acted
unjustly towards his daughter-in-law Tamar, a foreigner, and unlawfully had
sons by her. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was a detested Moabitess. The
relationship between David and Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, began in adultery,
betrayal, and murder. Rohoboam, “was rich in folly and poor in wisdom”. Of all
the kings, only two were faithful to Yahweh, Jehoshaphat and Josiah. Ahaz was “more
wicked than all his predecessors”. After the exile Jesus’ ancestors are people
unknown and unsung. Through it all, God is faithful to his promises. Through
the Holy Spirit, his Son is born of Abraham’s race to the Virgin Mary.
Tuesday 18
December 2012
Readings at Mass
First reading
Jeremiah
23:5-8
See,
the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when
I will raise a virtuous Branch for David,
who
will reign as true king and be wise,
practising
honesty and integrity in the land.
In
his days Judah will be saved
and
Israel dwell in confidence.
And
this is the name he will be called:
The-Lord-our-integrity.
So,
then, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when people
will no longer say, “As the Lord lives who brought the sons of Israel out of
the land of Egypt!” but, “As the Lord lives who led back and brought home the
descendants of the House of Israel out of the land of the North and from all
the countries to which he had dispersed them, to live on their own soil.”
Jeremiah was writing this in the context of the Babylonian captivity of God's people. However, spiritually, we are all in captivity. We all need a liberator. We see this passage fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. However, we need the birth of Jesus now. We need him to liberate us now. He will only do this if we joyfully submit ourselves to his rule. We will then receive "all the blessings of the heavenly world." (Ephesians 1:2).
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
71:1-2,12-13,18-19
In
his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
O
God, give your judgement to the king,
to
a king’s son your justice,
that
he may judge your people in justice
and
your poor in right judgement.
In
his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
For
he shall save the poor when they cry
and
the needy who are helpless.
He
will have pity on the weak
and
save the lives of the poor.
In
his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
Blessed
be the Lord, God of Israel,
who
alone works wonders,
ever
blessed his glorious name.
Let
his glory fill the earth.
Amen!
Amen!
In
his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Ruler
of the House of Israel,
who
gave the law to Moses on Sinai,
come
and save us with outstretched arm.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Matthew
1:18-24
This
is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph;
but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through
the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare
her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do
this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has
conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and
you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from
their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord
through the prophet:
The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,
a
name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of
the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.
Jesus is Emmanuel,
God with Us Today
Matthew wants to
teach his readers who Jesus is and on what mission God sent him. To do this he
searches the Old Testament and finds passages, which he can use to teach us
about the nature of Jesus’ life and work. The original author wrote the
passages in another time and other circumstances. Matthew, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, gives new meaning to them. He teaches us that Jesus is the fulfilment
of God’s longing to be with us and he comes to us conceived in the womb of the Virgin
Mary by the Holy Spirit. His Father is God. An angel announces his birth as in the
Old Testament to Joseph in a dream, as to Joseph son of the Patriarch Jacob. He
is Emmanuel, God-with-us. Do you believe that Jesus is “God-with-us” today?
Does this affect your life in a radical way?
Wednesday 19
December 2012
First reading
Judges
13:2-7,24-25
There
was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren, she
had borne no children. The angel of the Lord appeared to this woman and said to
her, ‘You are barren and have had no child. But from now on take great care.
Take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For you will conceive
and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy shall be God’s
nazirite from his mother’s womb. It is he who will begin to rescue Israel from
the power of the Philistines.’ Then the woman went and told her husband, ‘A man
of God has just come to me; his presence was like the presence of the angel of
God, he was so majestic. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not
reveal his name to me. But he said to me, “You will conceive and bear a son.
From now on, take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy
shall be God’s nazirite from his mother’s womb to his dying day.”’
The woman gave
birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him;
and the spirit of the Lord began to move him.
We read the Old Testament in order to
understand the New and therefore to understand Jesus. Jesus is the centre of
the Bible and gives it meaning. Here we see God intervening in the life of his
people. They are oppressed and suffering. God is going to do something that is
impossible. Manoah’s wife is barren. It is impossible then for her to have a
child. God is going to give her one. That is his choice. The child is to be
consecrated to God from his birth. Luke is going to begin his story of God’s
intervention in the life of the human race. We are all his people. His intervention
is his choice. Luke will show that Elizabeth is also barren. Her child too is
to be consecrated to God. The Spirit of God will also move her child. Luke will
write his account in the light of the Old Testament. He will show that Jesus brings the Old Testament to fulfilment. Without
Jesus the Old Testament has no meaning. He is its flower. John is much greater
than Samson. Jesus will be much greater than John.
Psalm
Psalm
70:3-6,16-17
My
lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all the day long.
Be
a rock where I can take refuge,
a
mighty stronghold to save me;
for
you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free
me from the hand of the wicked.
My
lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all the day long.
It
is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my
trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On
you I have leaned from my birth,
from
my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My
lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all the day long.
I
will declare the Lord’s mighty deeds
proclaiming
your justice, yours alone.
O
God, you have taught me from my youth
and
I proclaim your wonders still.
My
lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all the day long.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Root
of Jesse, set up as a sign to the peoples,
come
to save us,
and
delay no more.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke
1:5-25
In
the days of King Herod of Judaea there lived a priest called Zechariah who
belonged to the Abijah section of the priesthood, and he had a wife, Elizabeth
by name, who was a descendant of Aaron. Both were worthy in the sight of God, and
scrupulously observed all the commandments and observances of the Lord. But
they were childless: Elizabeth was barren and they were both getting on in
years.
Now it was the
turn of Zechariah’s section to serve, and he was exercising his priestly office
before God when it fell to him by lot, as the ritual custom was, to enter the
Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense there. And at the hour of incense the whole
congregation was outside, praying.
Then there
appeared to him the angel of the Lord, standing on the right of the altar of
incense. The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear. But the
angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you must name him John. He will be
your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great
in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink. Even from his
mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back
many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of
Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their
children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have,
preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.’
Zechariah said
to the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is
getting on in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel who stand in God’s
presence, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.
Listen! Since you have not believed my words, which will come true at their
appointed time, you will be silenced and have no power of speech until this has
happened.’ Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were surprised
that he stayed in the sanctuary so long. When he came out he could not speak to
them, and they realised that he had received a vision in the sanctuary. But he
could only make signs to them, and remained dumb.
When his time of
service came to an end he returned home. Some time later his wife Elizabeth
conceived, and for five months she kept to herself. ‘The Lord has done this for
me’ she said ‘now that it has pleased him to take away the humiliation I
suffered among men.’
God is Always
Faithful to his Promises
Luke composes a story
based on images of the Old Testament to highlight that God is intervening to do
a mighty deed. In the Bible Gabriel is the angel who announces Salvation and
people expected Elijah to come before the Messiah. This is the last scene of
the Old Testament. It takes place in Jerusalem, in the Temple and to a priest.
Zechariah and Elizabeth are childless. Like many in the Old Testament, she is
barren. However, nothing is impossible to God and he will act. Zechariah doubts
and Gabriel strikes him dumb. The people outside are praying. For what? They
are praying for the Messiah. God hears their prayer too. The Messiah is about
to come. Zechariah cannot give the blessing. From this time onwards, only the
Messiah will bless the people. God proves his fidelity down through the ages.
How has God shown his fidelity in your life?
Thursday 20
December 2012
First reading
Isaiah
7:10-14
The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask
the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of
Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord
to the test.’
Then
Isaiah said:
‘Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the
patience of men
without trying the patience of my God,
too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’
The prophet wrote this about his
own time and circumstances. When Luke and Matthew try to proclaim to us who
Jesus is, they found this passage and saw how it applies to him. He is indeed
God-with-us in the truest sense of the word. His father is not Joseph, but God
the Father. His mother is a virgin. This inspired Word is now fulfilled in Jesus through the
Virgin Mary.
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
23:1-6
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of
glory.
The Lord’s is the earth and its
fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of
glory.
Who shall climb the mountain of the
Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of
glory.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of
glory.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Emmanuel,
our king and lawgiver,
come and save us,
Lord our God.
Alleluia!
Or
Alleluia,alleluia!
Key of David, who open the gates of the
eternal kingdom,
come to liberate from prison
the captive who lives in darkness.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke
1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a
town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to
her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply
disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but
the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour.
Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will
be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him
the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever
and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come
about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel
answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so
the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your
kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom
people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to
God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done
to me.’ And the angel left her.
Blessed is She who
has Believed
The infancy stories of Jesus are not simply stories of a
young girl who becomes miraculously the mother of a baby born in a stable. They
proclaim the Good News of the Messiah, Son of David, and Son of God. Mary must
call him Jesus, which means Saviour. He will rule on the throne of David
forever. How will this happen. Not a husband, but the Holy Spirit will come
upon her and God’s power will overshadow her. Nothing is impossible to God.
Mary welcomes God’s Word. She is the model for believers and for the Church,
Bride of Christ. “Here I am, the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be done to me
according to your word”. Her faith makes her blessed among all women. Will you
welcome Jesus into your life, as Mary did in hers? Will you too become the
source of salvation for others?
Friday 21
December 2012
First reading
Song
of Songs 2:8-14
I hear my Beloved.
See how he comes
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young stag.
See where he stands
behind our wall.
He looks in at the window,
he peers through the lattice.
My Beloved lifts up his voice,
he says to me,
‘Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
For see, winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth.
The season of glad songs has come,
the cooing of the turtledove is heard
in our land.
The fig tree is forming its first figs
and the blossoming vines give out their
fragrance.
Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
My dove, hiding in the clefts of the
rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful.’
God is the
God of Love. John tells us that God is love. That loves comes to us in the
Person of Jesus and comes to us in human form. St. Paul tells us that we cannot
understand this love. It is beyond our understanding (Ephesians 3:19). Why did
Jesus come? It was because he loved us and love always seeks to be one with the
beloved. Until we understand that God in Jesus takes delight in us, longs to be
with us and make us fit for an eternity with him in joy, we will never be able
to understand Jesus or the Gospel he preaches.
Psalm
Psalm
32:2-3,11-12,20-21
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you
just; O sing him a song that is new.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song that is new,
play loudly, with all your skill.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you
just; O sing him a song that is new.
His own designs shall stand for ever,
the plans of his heart from age to age.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you
just; O sing him a song that is new.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you
just; O sing him a song that is new.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia,alleluia!
Key of David, who open the gates of the
eternal kingdom,
come to liberate from prison
the captive who lives in darkness.
Alleluia!
Or
Alleluia, alleluia!
Emmanuel,
our king and lawgiver,
come and save us,
Lord our God.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke
1:39-45
Mary set out at that time and went as
quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into
Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s
greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit
from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the
child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise
made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
Mother of God Come to
Save Humanity
Mary goes in haste to Elizabeth ,
pondering all that is happening. On greeting Elizabeth , the Saviour in her womb,
sanctifies John. As promised, from his birth God fills John with his Spirit. Elizabeth too, filled
with the Holy Spirit, proclaims, "Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why has it happened
that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” Mary is the mother of “my Lord”. God
revealed himself to Moses as Lord come to save his people. Mary is the Mother
of God come to save us. She is blessed because she believed. To believe is to
open oneself to God’s infinite love, to allow God to act out his loving designs
in our life. Mary allows God to love her, as he desires. This is to believe and
this is to be blessed. Do you believe and are you blessed?
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