Today, 4th of December, we celebrate
Saint John Damascene

The daily Word of God

December 23, 2024

Advent Weekday (December 23). Saint John of Kanty, priest.

Lk 1:57-66 "All who heard of it pondered in their minds and wondered, "What will this child be?"

First Reading: Mal 3:1-4, 23-24

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner's fire,
or like the fuller's lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14

R (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see;
your redemption is near at hand.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see;
your redemption is near at hand.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see;
your redemption is near at hand.

All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see;
your redemption is near at hand.

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:57-66

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her and they rejoiced with her.

When on the eighth day they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." They said to her, "No one in your family has that name"; and they asked the father by means of signs for the name he wanted to give. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote on it, "His name is John," and they were very surprised. Immediately Zechariah could speak again and his first words were in praise of God.

A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and throughout the Hills of Judea the people talked about these events. All who heard of it pondered in their minds and wondered, "What will this child be?" For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.

Introduction

Indeed, “God is gracious.” This is the meaning of the name John. We are told today about the birth of the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist. We remember the coming of the Savior and how a special messenger of God had to prepare the hearts of people for the coming of the Savior. But our Savior Jesus came long ago. How much are we living as people who are saved? How much do we enter into God’s plan to save our world? How much do we prepare Jesus’ coming into the hearts of people today?

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
in this time of waiting
you must still be waiting for us
how we respond to the coming of your Son Jesus
in our hearts and in our world.
Make us people of hope,
not people of the past,
but men and women,
the young and children too
who want to see Jesus our Savior
alive and active among us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

Gospel Introduction:
The Gospel scene is homey, even humorous. Elizabeth and Zechariah must insist, over the protests of family and friends, that the child’s name is John. With that, Zechariah’s “mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.” All are
astonished and, although the fear that descends on all in the environs is really awe, it is colored to some extent by the words of the first reading. In Christian tradition, John the Baptist is the messenger sent to prepare the way of the Lord. He is the Elijah who
will announce that “great and terrible” day.
The Gospel concludes by saying that all who heard of these happenings in the hill country of Judea “took them to heart.” Similarly, in Advent we store in our hearts the signs and wonders the Church proclaims, asking ourselves once again, “What, then, will
this child be?”

General Intercessions

– Lord Jesus, give the grace of faith to people who keep groping in the dark for something or someone like you to give meaning to their lives, we pray:

– Lord Jesus, give the grace of peace to the country and the people where you where born and where the center is the city of peace, Jerusalem, we pray:

– Lord Jesus, give the grace of liberation to people captive in their evil and in oppression, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
you are always coming
to renew us, to be gracious to us.
Make us attentive and eager
to keep welcoming your Son Jesus Christ
as one of us, here and now,
living in us, active in us,
going with us our pilgrim way
as our Lord who leads us to you,
our living God for ever and ever.

Prayer after Communion

God of our hope,
when we hear the word of your Son
and sit at his table,
we realize how deaf we often still are
to his word of life and his love.
Make us hear him
when he knocks at the door of our hearts,
dispose us to let him enter
and to let him make us
messengers of his integrity and peace.
For he is our Lord for ever.

Blessing

At the birth of John the Baptist his Father Zechariah praised God for giving him a son who was to do great things for God. We too give praise to God for giving us his Son Jesus, and in him the grace of forgiveness and life. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.