Tuesday of the 1st Week of Advent
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 11:1-10
On that day, A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, The Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 (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.
Justice shall flower in His days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May He rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth. R.
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.
May His name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun His name shall remain.
In Him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim His happiness. R.
Gospel – Lk 10:21-24
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give You praise, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, for although You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned You have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious will. All things have been handed over to Me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.” Turning to the disciples in private He said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
Featured Saints
St. Gerald, bishop (†579). Cluniac monk at Moissac, France, appointed Archbishop of Braga, Portugal. He renewed divine worship, restored churches and stimulated ecclesiastical discipline.
St. John Almond, priest and martyr (†1612). English priest ordained in Rome who returned to his homeland as a missionary in 1602. After being twice arrested and imprisoned, he was executed in Tyburn, for exercising his priestly ministry, during the reign of James I.
St. Sabbas, abbot. Born near Caesarea of Cappadocia, in 439, he abandoned the world at the age 17 and lived a long life as both a monk and a hermit, founding many monasteries.
St. Chrispina of Thagara, martyr († 304). Woman of high nobility and mother of a family, tortured and beheaded in Thebesta, present-day Algeria, for refusing to worship the pagan gods. She is praised by St. Augustine.
Blessed Nicolas Steno, bishop († 1683). Born in Denmark to a Lutheran family, he converted to Catholicism after watching a Corpus Christi procession, after which he studied theology and became a priest. Blessed Innocent XI appointed him Apostolic Vicar for the Nordic Missions.
Blessed Bartolomeo Fanti, priest († 1495). Carmelite religious in Mantua. Zealous propagator of devotion to the Eucharistic Jesus and to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Blessed Philip Rinaldi, Salesian priest († 1931). At the age of 21, he met St. John Bosco. He contributed greatly to the expansion of the Salesian Congregation, of which he became Vicar General and, later, Rector Major.
Blessed Narcissus Putz, priest and martyr († 1942). Polish priest imprisoned in the concentration camp of Dachau, Germany, where he died after enduring severe privations and suffering.
Image gallery
