This Week’s Gospel Message

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, December 20th is from Luke 1:26-38.

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And coming to her, he said, ‘Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you. . .Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’  But Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be . . .?’ And the angel said to her in reply, ‘. . . nothing will be impossible for God.’ Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.’”

“Quite reasonably, Mary questioned the angel Gabriel when he first told her the incredible news.  But once she learned of her cousin’s unlikely pregnancy, she agreed to bear the Son of God.  The angel had assured her—and demonstrated to her—that ‘nothing will be impossible for God.’  Let these six words reassure us when we face those times in our lives when despair and hopelessness seem unavoidable.  For the God whose Son was born into this world, who raised him up from the dead, who offers salvation to the whole of humanity, truly nothing is impossible.” Source:  Pastoral Patterns, Winter 2020-2021

DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK

Monday Song 2:8-14; Luke 1:39-45

Tuesday 1 Sam 1:24-28; Luke 1:46-56

Wednesday Mal 3:1-4, 23-24; Luke 1:57-66

Thursday 2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Luke 1:67-79

Vigil—Isa 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matt 1:1-25

Midnight—Isa 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14

Friday Isa 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; John 1:1-18

Saturday Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Matt 10:17-22

Saint Stephen, The First Martyr (Feast) – “Stephen is the first-named among the seven deacons chosen by the twelve apostles to minister to Greek-speaking Christians in Jerusalem. He is the first recorded martyr of the New Testament and patron saint of deacons.” Source: Living With Christ, December 2020

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