This Week’s Gospel Message for Sunday, December 22nd is from Matthew 1:18-24.
“. . .the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ . . .When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.”
“Through the angel Gabriel, God revealed Mary’s mission to her. She was to bear the Son of God: Jesus, the Messiah. Through the angel of the Lord, God revealed Joseph’s mission to him. Jesus had a mission as well, revealed in his very name: to save the people from their sins. Like Mary and Joseph, Jesus accepted his mission.” Source: Pastoral Patterns, Winter 2019-2020
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Mal 3:1-4, 23-24; Luke 1:57-66
Tuesday 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
Wednesday Isa 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; John 1:1-18
Thursday 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 2019
Friday 1 John 1:1-4; John 20:1a, 2-8
Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist (Feast) – “John has been traditionally identified as the author of the fourth gospel, the Book of Revelation, the three letters that bear his name, and as the ‘Beloved Disciple.’” Living With Christ, December 2019
Saturday 1 John 1:5—2:2; Matt 2:13-18
The Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Feast) – “Today’s feast commemorates the male children slain instead of Jesus by King Herod in his desire to eliminate the newborn king.” Living With Christ, December 2019