Thursday, 19 December 2024
Third Week in Advent.
Antiphons and Readings on p. 97 of the Daily Missal.
First Reading: Judges 13:2-7.24-25a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 71:3-4a.5-6ab.16-17 (R. see 8a)
R/. My mouth is filled with your praise,
and I will sing your glory!
Be my rock, my constant refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
My God , free me from the hand of the wicked.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth;
from my mother’s womb, you have been my help.
I will come with praise of your might, O Lord;
I will call to mind your justice, yours, O Lord, alone.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and I proclaim your wonders still.
Gospel: Luke 1:5-25
In the days of Herod, king of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah,
of the division of Abijah;
and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
And they were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
But they had no child
because Elizabeth was barren,
and both were advanced in years.
Now while he was serving as priest before God
when his division was on duty,
according to the custom of the priesthood,
it fell to him by lot
to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people
were praying outside at the hour of incense.
And there appeared to him
an angel of the Lord standing
on the right side of the altar of incense.
And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him,
and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him,
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
for your prayer is heard,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall call his name John.
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth;
for he will be great before the Lord,
and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother’s womb.
And he will turn many of the sons of Israel
to the Lord their God,
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli′jah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
And Zechariah said to the angel,
“How shall I know this?
For I am an old man,
and my wife is advanced in years.”
And the angel answered him,
“I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God;
and I was sent to speak to you
and to bring you this good news.
And behold,
you will be silent and unable to speak
until the day that these things come to pass
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their time.”
And the people were waiting for Zechariah,
and they wondered at his delay in the temple.
And when he came out,
he could not speak to them,
and they perceived
that he had seen a vision in the temple;
and he made signs to them and remained dumb.
And when his time of service was ended,
he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived,
and for five months she hid herself, saying,
“Thus the Lord has done to me
in the days when he looked on me,
to take away my reproach among men.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
