Mass Readings for : Thursday, 14th December, 2023

Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 14th December, 2023

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
Memorial of St John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church

FIRST READING

A reading from the prophet Isaiah 41:13-21
I, the Holy One of Israel, am your redeemer.

For I, the Lord, your God, I am holding you by the right hand;
I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid, I will help you’

Do not be afraid, Jacob, poor worm, Israel, puny mite. I will help you –
it is the Lord who speaks – the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.

See, I turn you into a threshing-sled, new, with doubled teeth;
you shall thresh and crush the mountains, and turn the hills to chaff.

You shall winnow them and the wind will blow them away,
the gale will scatter them.
But you yourself will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and needy ask for water, and there is none,
their tongue is parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

I will make rivers well up on barren heights, and fountains in the midst of valleys;
turn the wilderness into a lake, and dry ground into waterspring.

In the wilderness I will put cedar trees, acacias, myrtles, olives.
In the desert I will plant juniper, plane tree and cypress side by side;

so that men may see and know, may all observe and understand
that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 144
Response The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

1.I will give you glory, O God my King, I will bless your name for ever.
How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures. Response

2. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign and
declare your might, O God,
to make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendour of your reign. Response
3. Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to age. Response

Gospel Acclamation Is 45:8:8
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come to us, Lord, with your peace that we may rejoice in your presence with sincerity of heart.
Alleluia!

or
Alleluia, alleluia!
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.
Let the earth open and bring forth the saviour.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 11:11-15 Glory to you, O Lord.
A greater than John the Baptist has never been seen.

Jesus spoke to the crowds:
‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women,
a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.
Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time,
the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm.
Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection Thursday, Second Week of Advent Matthew 11:11-15

In the gospel reading, Jesus says something very striking about John the Baptist, ‘of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen’. The greatness of John consists in his willingness to embrace the role that the prophet Elijah was expected to play in the age of the coming of the Messiah. It was believed that Elijah would be sent ahead of the Lord to prepare a way for him. In referring to John as the promised Elijah, Jesus is implicitly referring to himself as the promised Messiah. Having made that striking statement about John the Baptist, Jesus then makes an even more striking statement, declaring that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. John did not live to see the coming of God’s kingdom through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He was executed by Herod Antipas shortly into the public ministry of Jesus. Jesus is reminding his disciples of how privileged they are. We are all being reminded of how greatly graced we have been, graced in a way that even John the Baptist wasn’t. We have been given a great deal through the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit, not on the basis of anything we have done, but purely as an expression of God’s love for the world. In the language of the fourth gospel, Jesus has come among us full of grace and truth and from his fullness we have all received. We spend our lives trying to fully appreciate all we have received and are receiving from God through the life, death and resurrection of his Son and then learning to give generously to the Lord and others out of all that we have received.