Mass Readings for : Friday, 22nd December, 2023

Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 22nd December, 2023

Octave day 6 before Christmas
–22 Dec 2022-

FIRST READING

A reading from the first book of Samuel 1:24-28
Hanna gives thanks for Samuel’s birth’.

When Hanna had weaned him, she took him up with her together with a three-year old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the bull and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said,
‘If you please, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.’
There she left him, for the Lord.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm 1 Sam 2
Response My heart exults in the Lord my saviour.

1. My heart exults in the Lord, I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies as I rejoice in your saving help. Response

2. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now but the fruitful wife bears no more. Response

3. It is the Lord who gives life and death, he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches. He brings men low and raises them on high. Response

4. He lifts up the lowly from the dust, from the dung heap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes, to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, on them he has set the world. Response

Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Root of Jesse, set up as a sign to the peoples, come to save us and delay no more.
Alleluia!

or
Alleluia, alleluia!
King of the peoples and corner-stone of the Church,
come and save man whom you made from the dust of the earth.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 1:46-56 Glory to you, O Lord.
The Almighty has done great things for me.

Mary said:
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
-according to the promise he made to our ancestors-
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

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

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Gospel Reflection 22 Dec. Luke 1:46-56

Today’s gospel reading is the prayer that we have come to know as the Magnificat. It is prayed every evening by those who pray the Evening Prayer of the Church. In the opening part of this prayer, Mary praises God for what God has done for her, ‘he has looked upon his lowly handmaid’. Mary sees herself as the humble servant of the Lord. She is aware that, by the standards of the age, she had no status or standing. Yet, she is also aware that God chose her for a very special role; she was to be the mother of God’s Son. In the remainder of her prayer, Mary recognizes that God’s choice of her, someone whom the world would consider lowly and of no consequence, is in keeping with how God has related to his people in the past. It is the lowly that God has exalted; it is the hungry that he has filled with good things. In contrast, the proud of heart, the princes of this world, have been routed and cast down. Mary’s prayer recognizes that it is only those who are aware of their need of God, those who know their poverty before God, who will experience God’s saving presence, God’s helping hand. At this time of the year, we are invited to come before the Lord in our poverty, in our neediness, like Mary, like the shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth. If we do so, we too will know the joy of his saving help and come to discover the great things that the Lord can do for us.