Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Advent
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jer 23:5-8
Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: “The LORD our justice.” Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD, when they shall no longer say, “As the LORD lives, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt”; but rather, “As the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north”– and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own land.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19 (R.see 7)
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment. R.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save. R.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
And blessed forever be his glorious name;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory. R.
Gospel – Mt 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, 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.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.
Featured Saints
St. Gatian, bishop (†third century). First Bishop of Tours, France, who according to tradition was sent from Rome to this city, where he is buried.
St. Winebald of Heidenheim, abbot and missionary (†761). Together with his brother St. Willibald, he accepted the invitation of St. Boniface, who was his uncle, and with a group of other English monks went to evangelize among the German peoples, as did also his sister, St. Walburga.
St. Malachi, prophet. The last of the minor prophets, he announced that Christ would have a precursor to prepare the way for Him, as well as His coming to the Temple.
St. Flannan, bishop (†7th century). Son of an Irish chieftain, Toirdhealbhach. Embracing monastic life, he became abbot. During a pilgrimage to Rome, Pope John IV conferred episcopal consecration upon him, appointing him as the first Bishop of Killaloe, Ireland.
Sts. Paul Nguyên Van My, Peter Truòng Van Ðuòng and Peter Vu Van Truât, martyrs (†1838). Vietnamese catechists killed by strangulation for refusing to trample a Crucifix as a sign of apostasy.
Blessed Nemesia Valle, virgin (†1916). Member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida Thouret, she generously gave herself to the formation of youth. She died near Turin, Italy.
