Thursday of the 1st Week of Advent
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 26:1-6
On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: “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.
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. 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.
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