Liturgical Readings for : Sunday, 24th December, 2023
********* 4th Sunday of Advent *********
– 24 December-
( A Short Advent Reflection by Fr. John Cullen, can be found below the Readings for today)
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The role of Mary in the Incarnation is celebrated. She is of that house of David which God promised would be built according to his plan. The plan is revealed in Jesus Christ and is now made known to all peoples.
FIRST READING
A reading from the second book of Samuel 7:1-5. 8-12. 14. 16
The kingdom of David will always stand secure before the Lord
Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan,
‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent’.
Nathan said to the king,
‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you’.
But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks:
Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in?
This is what you must say to my servant David, ” the Lord Sabaoth says this:
I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep,
to be leader of my people Israel;
I have been with you on all your expeditions;
I have cut off all your enemies before you.
I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth.
I will provide a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again;
nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel;
I will give them rest from all their enemies. the Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House.
And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors,
I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure.
I will be a father to him and he a son to me;
if he does evil,
I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives.
Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”‘
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 88: 2-5. 27.29 Rv: 2
Response I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
1. I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord; through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever, that your truth is firmly established as the heavens. Response
2. ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever and set up your throne through all ages.’ Response
3. He will say to me: ‘You are my father, my God, the rock who saves me.’
I will keep my love for him always; for him my covenant shall endure. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 16:25-2
The mystery kept secret for endless ages is now made clear.
Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be.
He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Gospel Acclamation Lk 1: 38
Alleluia, alleluia!
‘I am the handmaid of the Lord: let what you have said be done to me.’
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38 Glory to you, O Lord
Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son
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.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Reflection for today by Fr John Cullen
‘For nothing will be impossible with God.’ (Luke 1:37)
Brendan Rodgers from Ballymena, County Antrim is a former player and coach of several football teams in the past including as a manager for Watford, Reading, Swansea, Liverpool and Celtic and Leicester Football Club. In the notes of the match programme he always signs off with his characteristic three-word quip: ‘Everything is possible’. In another message of his I read, ‘I’ve always said that you can live without water for a few days, but you can’t live a second without hope.’ A woman once said to me, ‘I am living with constant tension in my home. I wait in hope for tender looks. All I have is a God who weeps.’
Advent is a time to believe and hope in a God who walks in and stays with the brokenness of our lives. The Gospel is a record of how Jesus enters into the darkness, like the seed growing in the ground, like a God who weeps, so that he can be the living, real presence for others who live with the emotional, spiritual and physical brokenness. In the Gospel, Jesus claims that he is the light that is uncontainable that extinguishes the darkness of loneliness, rejection, alienation and indifference.
In the Greek Orthodox Liturgy, when the bread and wine have been prepared and consecrated, the priest lifts them up and says, ‘Holy things for the holy people – ta hagioi tois hagiois –. The entire congregation replies, ‘One is holy, One is Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father’.
We have a similar payer in the Catholic liturgy of the Mass.
Br Roger (1915–2005) who founded an ecumenical monastery in Taizé as a
place of prayer, contemplation, fraternity, welcome and peace frequentlysaid,
‘In each person there is a portion of solitude which no human intimacy can ever fill.
Yet you are never alone.
Christ is waiting for you and what you never dared hope for will spring to life.’
(The late Brother Roger of Taizé was attacked and killed on August 16th 2005 after prayer
For us and for our salvation Jesus came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. (The Nicene Creed)
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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published in1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
