Monday of the 1st week of Advent
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 4:2-6
On that day, The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel. He who remains in Zion and he who is left in Jerusalem Will be called holy: every one marked down for life in Jerusalem. When the LORD washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion, And purges Jerusalem’s blood from her midst with a blast of searing judgment, Then will the LORD create, over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her place of assembly, A smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night. For over all, the LORD’s glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD. R.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David. R.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings. R.
Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good. R.
Gospel – Mt 8:5-11
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached Him and appealed to Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Featured Saints
St. James of the Marches, priest (†1476). Franciscan, disciple of St. Bernardine of Siena, he was a great preacher and orator, practising his ministry in in Italy, Poland, Bohemia, Bosnia and Hungary.
St. Papinianus of Vita and Mansuetus of Uruci, bishops and martyrs (†fifth century). These two African prelates were burned in every part of their bodies with red hot iron plates for their defence of the Catholic Faith against the Arian king, Genseric.
St. Andrew Tran Van Trong, martyr (†1835). He was imprisoned and cruelly tortured for refusing to trample a cross; he was beheaded in Kham Duong, Vietnam.
St. Stephen, the Younger, monk and martyr (†764). Abbot of the monastery of Monte Sant’Aussenzio, in present-day
Turkey. He was exiled and later imprisoned, tortured and finally decapitated during the iconoclast persecution of Constantine V Copronymus, Emperor of Constantinople.
Blessed Theodora, abbess (†980). A spiritual disciple of St. Nilus the Younger, she instructed many in the ways of monastic life in Calabria (Italy).
Blessed Luis Campos Górriz, martyr (†1936). Doctor of law and member of the Lay Apostolate; he was killed by firing squad for his Catholic faith in Paterna, near Valencia, Spain.
