Liturgical Colour : White
Titus 2 : 11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teaching us to reject an irreligious way of life and worldly greed, and to live in this world as responsible persons, upright and serving God, while we await our blessed Hope – the glorious manifestation of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus.
He gave Himself for us, to redeem us from every evil and to purify a people He wanted to be His own and dedicated to what is good.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 11-12, 13
Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.
Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.
Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them; let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy.
Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 9 : 1-7
The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death. You have enlarged the nation; You have increased their joy. They rejoice before You, as people rejoice at harvest time as they rejoice in dividing the spoil.
For the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors, You have broken it as on the day of Midian. Every warrior’s boot that tramped in war, every cloak rolled in blood, will be thrown out for burning, will serve as fuel for the fire.
For a Child is born to us, a Son is given us; the royal ornament is laid upon His shoulder, and His Name is proclaimed : “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
To the increase of His powerful rule in peace, there will be no end. Vast will be His dominion, He will reign on David’s throne and over all his kingdom, to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forever. The zealous love of YHVH Sabaoth will do this.
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 1 : 1-25
This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah. There were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Christ.
This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.
So she gave birth to a Son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave Him the Name Jesus.
Alternative reading (shorter version)
Matthew 1 : 18-25
This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.
So she gave birth to a Son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave Him the Name Jesus.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 13 : 16-17, 22-25
So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen. The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after He had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, He led them out by powerful deeds.
After that time, God removed Saul and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.
It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus. Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said : ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another One is coming Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.'”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 88 : 4-5, 16-17, 27 and 29
You said, “I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”
Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.
He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 62 : 1-5
For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal.
You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin, so will your Builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday marks the Fourth and Last Sunday of Advent which means that we are about to come into the great celebration of Our Lord’s Nativity or birth in Christmas. And this Sunday we focus on the last of the four Advent themes, and this is the theme of ‘Love’. And it is fitting that we focus our attention on this theme of ‘Love’, because ultimately, that is what Christmas is truly all about, the genuine and pure, boundless and great love that God has for each and every one of us.
For we celebrate in Christmas, the birth of the Saviour of the world, the manifestation of God’s eternal and perfect love, in the Flesh, that the Lord willingly embraced and took upon our humanity, by the indwelling and incarnation of His divinity, the Son and Divine Word, as Man, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and thus, the Holy One of God was conceived in the womb of Mary, Son of God and Son of Man in One.
This is the culmination and fulfilment of all that God had long promised His people and all of His servants, just as we heard from the Scripture readings today. In our first reading today, we heard God speaking to king David of Israel through the prophet Nathan, when the king wanted to build a great House for God. That House would eventually be built by David’s son, king Solomon, as the famed Temple of Solomon, the place of the great worship of God.
God told David that it would be his own son that would build the House for His Name and dwelling, and while He has blessed David and made his reign and rule strong, he would also bless his son and descendants, and promised David that his house will last forever. While this was indeed a direct reference to how God would bless Solomon and his descendants, but in truth, it was also a hidden prefigurement of Christ and His coming.
King Solomon and the descendants of David did not remain completely faithful to God, and many among them led the people into sin and wickedness, and thus, the kingdom of Israel and Judah met its end at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians respectively. It seemed that the promises of God had come to naught, but in truth, just as the Israelites believed it, the Lord would fulfil His promises yet, by sending them the Messiah Who was to be born of the House of David.
However, what they did not know was that, this Messiah is also none other than the Son of God just as much as He is the Son and Heir of David, the One Who would occupy the Throne of David and therefore, fulfil God’s promises. As the Eternal God Himself has now descended into this world and become King for His own people, His kingdom shall last forever, and all those who follow Him, will receive from Him the eternal life and glory promised to them.
This is what the Archangel Gabriel himself revealed to Mary as we listened to in our Gospel passage today, at the Annunciation, when the Lord through Gabriel finally announced the coming of His salvation, long awaited and expected by His people. This is the true proof and manifestation of God’s eternal love and His enduring compassionate care for each and every one of us, all children and descendants of Adam who had strayed from His path, that God has always loved us all and wanted us to return to Him and be reconciled with Him.
It is God’s pure love that we remember today, as we focus on the ‘Love’ as the most important aspect of our Advent preparation. Without Love, then Christmas would not have happened, and without Love, there would not have been salvation for all of us. God would not have forgiven and saved us, or spared us from the fate that awaits us due to our rebelliousness and sins. Through our disobedience and rebellion, we have fallen into sin, and because of our sins, we should have fallen into damnation and eternal suffering in hell.
But the Lord loves each one of us dearly, and He does not want us to suffer that fate. He could have easily destroyed us for our rebellion and disobedience, but He clearly did not do so. When He sent Adam and Eve away from the Gardens of Eden, He did so to let us all know that what we have done were not correct and right, and we have to suffer the consequences of our sins. Yet, as a loving Father, He did not leave us all alone. He still cared for us and wanted us all to be reconciled to Him.
It was this love that allowed Him to be so patient with us and to reach out to us with such great affection, despite the attitudes which many of us had shown Him, our ingratitude, our lack of faith and stubbornness, our constant embracing of sin and evil. He sent us His own Beloved Son, Who entered into the world and dwelled among us so that all of us may know of His love, that is not just something that is distant and imaginary, but as something that is real and genuine, and brings us hope and light even in the deepest of darkness, love that is sincere and selfless, perfect and compassionate.
I invite all of us now to reflect on the Lord our God and Saviour, Whose coming into this world we are going to celebrate in Christmas that is about to come. I want us all to reflect on the great love that God has shown us, the reason why He restored the joy and light to our lives. And we do not have to look far, brothers and sisters in Christ. Turn our gaze towards the crucifix, and we shall see there, the same Christ, the Baby born and celebrated at Christmas, hung on the Cross for the salvation of the world.
That is a further proof of God’s love, that not only just that He willingly took up our form, existence and humanity, born as a little Child in Bethlehem, but that same Jesus Christ, willingly took upon Himself our sins and the many punishments due to our sins and our rebellions, and bore all these upon His shoulders, bleeding and bruised for our many trespasses. But He bore all these willingly out of love for us, that we may not perish but live through Him.
By His suffering and death on the Cross, and by sharing in our humanity, Christ Our Lord has made us to share in His death, and then leading us through His Resurrection, He leads us into a new life and existence of grace, one that is not subject and bonded to sin and death, showing us the path forward to an eternity of true joy, happiness and glory with Him.
There is no question that God loves us all very much, that He has willingly done all of these for us, and in how He had been very patient with us and making His intention clear to us in wanting us to repent and turn away from our sins, and embrace His salvation. But the question now is, do we love Him then just as much as He has loved us?Have we ever appreciated just how beloved and fortunate we are because of God’s love?
As we are about to enter into the joyous celebrations of Christmas, those questions must be in our minds and hearts, that we may reflect on and reevaluate the way we perceive and look at Christmas. If Christmas is just another merry-making time and an occasion for us to celebrate with lavish parties and revelries, then we are not celebrating Christmas in the right way.
And if we are trying to outdo one another and are too focused on the material aspects of Christmas and its celebrations, then we are not celebrating Christmas in the right way either. Our celebration of Christmas must of course first and foremost be centred on Christ, on the love that God has shown to each and every one of us, even to the worst of sinners, that He clearly wants to embrace us and be reconciled with us, and love us fully as He has always intended.
This is what we really need to consider as we spend this Sunday focusing on this theme of ‘Love’. Not the love of ourselves but the love of God, and how much we love God and also our fellow neighbours, our brothers and sisters all around us. That is the true essence of Christmas, the fulfilment and manifestation of God’s love in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. And we rejoice with Him because through Him we have been saved!
Now, what can we do then in order to make our Christmas celebrations more meaningful? We should share God’s love with one another, especially through this difficult year and through all that many had suffered earlier on this year, and many yet still suffer this very moment and will endure more hardships in the next few months to come. We must be the bearers of God’s hope and peace, His joy and love to one another, particularly those who have none or little of these.
That is how we should celebrate Christmas as Christians, that we rejoice not for ourselves, but for the whole community, together with God. In that way then we will fully be able to appreciate how important Christmas is to us, and how the love of God allowed us all to cheer up, be happy and hopeful once again, because we know that in Christ, and through Him, the Lord Who is always ever faithful has fulfilled His promises to us, and by His love, we shall enjoy forever His eternal glory.
Let us all renew our faith in the Lord and strengthen our love for Him. And if we have not done so, from now on, let us live our lives differently, by focusing on the Lord rather than on ourselves, and be filled with true Christian love, for each and every one of our fellow brethren. Let us all be faithful bearers of God’s love, and through that bring hope, peace and joy in our community, wherever we are. May God bless us all and guide us all to a most wonderful, blessed, fruitful and loving Christmas celebration to come. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Luke 1 : 26-38
In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Romans 16 : 25-27
Glory be to God! He is able to give you strength, according to the Good News I proclaim, announcing Christ Jesus. Now is revealed the mysterious plan, kept hidden for long ages in the past.
By the will of the eternal God it is brought to light, through the prophetic books, and all nations shall believe the faith proclaimed to them. Glory to God, Who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, forever! Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 