First Sunday of Advent
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Mass Readings
First Reading – Jer 33:14-16
The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot ; he shall do what is right and just in the land. In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: “The LORD our justice.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 (R.1b)
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
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,
and for you I wait all the day. R.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way. R.
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.
Second Reading – 1 Thes 3:12—4:2
Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen. Finally, brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God and as you are conducting yourselves you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
Gospel – Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Featured Saints
St. Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin and Alexander Briant, priests and martyrs (†1581). Jesuit religious who suffered martyrdom in England during the reign of Elizabeth I.
St. Eligius (Eloi), bishop (†660). A goldsmith from Limoges, France, and counsellor to King Dagobert I. He entered religious life, was ordained, and founded several monasteries before being elected Bishop of Noyon.
St. Domnolus, bishop (†581). He was abbot of the Monastery of St. Lawrence in Paris, and later Bishop of Le Mans, France. He shone fore his gift of miracles.
St. Nahum, prophet of the Old Testament. In his exhortations, he portrays God as the director of History and Judge of nations.
St. Florence, virgin (†fourth century). A pagan converted to the Faith by St. Hilary of Poitiers during his exile in Asia Minor. She followed him on his return to France and became an anchoress in Comblé.
Blessed Casimiro Sykulski, martyr († 1941). Polish priest, military chaplain in the First World War. He laboured with great dedication in social and apostolic work. For his continuous charitable activity, he was arrested during World War II and taken to Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was shot.
Blessed Maria Clara of the Child Jesus, virgem (†1899). She founded the Franciscan Hospitallers Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Lisbon.
Blessed Liduina Meneguzzi, virgem (†1941). A Sister of St. Francis de Sales from Italy, who worked as a missionary in Ethiopia, where she practised the virtue of Christian charity towards the poor, sick and imprisoned.
Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta, virgin and martyr († 1964). Religious of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, martyred during a bloody persecution in the Republic of Congo.
