Liturgical Readings for : Sunday, 31st December, 2023
12-31-2023 Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Feast Year B
Liturgical note: There are alternative 1st and 2nd Readings 1st reading Genesis 15:1-6, 221:1-3 and 2nd reading Hebrews 18:11-12
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6. 12-14
He who fears the Lord, respects his parents
The Lord honours the father in his children,
and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons.
Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins,
he who honours his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.
Whoever respects his father will be happy with children of his own,
he shall be heard on the day when he prays.
Long life comes to him who honours his father,
he who sets his mother at ease is showing obedience to the Lord.
My son, support your father in his old age,
do not grieve him during his life.
Even if his mind should fail, show him sympathy,
do not despise him in your health and strength;
for kindness to a father shall not be forgotten
but will serve as reparation for your sins.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm 127:1-5 R/v 1
Response O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
- O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat You will be happy and prosper. Response - Your wife like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive around your table. Response - Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord
May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Colossians 3:12-21
Family life in the Lord
You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins.
The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, give way to your husbands, as you should in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and treat them with gentleness. Children, be obedient to your parents always, because that is what will please the Lord. Parents, never drive your children to resentment or you will make them feel frustrated.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation Col 3:15-16
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, let the message of Christ find a home in you.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 2:22-40
The child grew, filled with wisdom.
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord — observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord — and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected — and a sword will pierce your own soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Alternate year’s gospels
GOSPEL Year A
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 2:13-15. 19-23 Glory to you, O Lord
Take the child and his mother and escape into Egypt
After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him’.
So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him left that night or Egypt, where they stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
I called my son out of Egypt.’
After Herod’s death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead’. So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth.
In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled:
‘He will be called a Nazarene.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Scripture Reflection: 31th Dec., Feast of the Holy Family Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
The picture that Matthew gives us of the family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in our gospel reading is of a family that endured a series of displacements. Living in Bethlehem, they had to travel to Egypt to protect themselves from the murderous intent of King Herod. The death of Herod seemed like the moment to return home from Egypt to Bethlehem. However, Herod’s son, Archelaus became ruler of Judea, where Bethlehem was located, and as he did not seem a better prospect than his father Herod, the family were had to move further north to Galilee, to the little village of Nazareth, beyond the territory of Archelaus.
Here was a family on the move, trying desperately to find a place where they could live their lives in peace. It is a story that has a very familiar ring to it in these times. We have seen on our television screens so many people forced to leave their homes for their own safety and having to set out in search of a more peaceful environment where they can rear their families without living in fear all the time. When we hear the term ‘holy family’, it might suggest to us a family that is somewhat removed from the struggles of normal family living. Matthew’s portrait of this family in our gospel reading suggests otherwise.
Here was a family that was very familiar with what Shakespeare called ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’. Yet, Matthew suggests that here was also a family that was open to God’s presence in the midst of all their suffering, loss and displacement. Joseph, in particular, is portrayed as seeking the Lord in all his trials and discovering the Lord’s presence and guidance in the harsh realities of life. At one level the journeys from Bethlehem to Egypt and from Egypt to Nazareth was forced on them by political circumstances, but the evangelist Matthew suggests that at another, deeper, level, it was travelled in response to the Lord’s guidance and prompting. Joseph believed that their journey to Egypt and then to Galilee was at the Lord’s directing.
The holiness of this family consists in their faithfulness, their openness to the Lord even in those circumstances which might have suggested that the Lord had abandoned them. Their relationship with the Lord remained the primary relationship in their lives, even when they seemed to be moving from one dark valley to another. This is a family who inspires and encourages us to keep faith in the Lord, to keep our focus on him at all times, including those times when so much seems to be taken from us.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd.
