Thursday of the 1st Week of Advent
Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene, priest and Doctor of the Church. From an Arab Christian family, he was born in Damascus in the mid-seventh century. A close friend of the caliph, he left the court and retired to St. Sabbas Monastery, near Jerusalem. He fought the iconoclastic heresy initiated by Leo III, emperor of Byzantium.
See also:
- More Exalted than the Heavens, by St. John Damascene
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 26:1-6
“A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us. Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith. A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you.” Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal Rock. He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; He tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a (R.26a)
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes. R.
Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This gate is the LORD’s;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.R.
O LORD, grant salvation!
O LORD, grant prosperity!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God, and he has given us light. R.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come. R.
Gospel – Mt 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Featured Saints
St. Barbara, virgin and martyr († 3rd century). From Nicomedia, currently Izmit (Turkey), her father was enraged when she became a Christian and handed her over to the judges to be killed.
St. Bernard, bishop († 1133). Appointed cardinal by Pope Urban II, he carried out important missions for the Holy See. Named Bishop of Parma, Italy, he governed his diocese with extraordinary discernment.
St. Osmund, bishop († 1099). Bishop of Salisbury, England, he celebrated the cathedral’s dedication and standardized the customs of his diocese.
St. Anno (Annan), bishop († 1075). He founded many churches and monasteries in his Diocese of Cologne, Germany. A man of courage and talent, he won the esteem of many in ecclesiastical and civilian circles, at the time of Emperor Henry IV.
St. John the Wonderworker, Bishop († 9th century). In Phrygia (Turkey) He actively defended the cult of sacred images, opposing the iconoclastic Emperor Leo, the Armenian.
St. John Calabria, priest († 1954). In Verona, Italy, he founded the Congregation of the Poor Servants of Divine Providence.
Blessed Simon Yempo, martyr († 1623). As a Japanese youth he entered a Buddhist monastery, but later embraced the Catholic Faith and became a Jesuit religious. During the anti-Christian persecutions in his country, he was arrested and sentenced to be burned to death.
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