Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 117 : 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Alleluia! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His loving kindness endures forever. Let Israel say, “His loving kindness endures forever.”
The right hand of God is lifted high, the right hand of the Lord strikes mightily! I shall not die, but live to proclaim what the Lord has done.
The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Jeremiah 20 : 10-13
I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip : “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”
But YHVH, a mighty Warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. YHVH, God of hosts, You test the just and probe the heart and mind. Let me see Your revenge on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to YHVH! Praise YHVH and say : He has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!
Liturgical Colour : Purple or Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the conception and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, Son of God incarnate into the flesh of Man. If yesterday we listened to the messenger of God, John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Christ and His coming, then fittingly today we heard about the coming of Christ Himself.
In the first reading we heard about king Ahaz of Judea who refused to ask for a sign from God, when he was asked to do so by the prophet Isaiah. Why did God show His displeasure as He said through Isaiah? That is because it was hypocrisy and unfaithfulness at best on the side of Ahaz. He and many of his ancestors have not been faithful to the Lord, worshipping the pagan idols, committing wickedness after wickedness, and abandoning the Lord their God who had blessed them so much.
In refusing to ask for a sign from God, Ahaz was a hypocrite, since he pretended humility and meekness, that as if he lowered himself before God, but in fact he was not genuine in that gesture. The Sign which God has intended to give to His people is a Sign of His Love and a Sign of His mercy and forgiveness, and Ahaz refused it in his hypocritical attitude.
And that sign, is the Virgin who would bear a Child, and the Child would be named Emmanuel, which means literally, ‘God is with us’ and this is significant. Some of us may ask, how come then the Royal Baby born of Mary was not then named as Emmanuel? Why was He named as Jesus? Jesus is the Name of our Lord, the Name above every other names, the terror at the hearts of all demons, but He also has many other titles and names.
In the same book of the prophet Isaiah, we know that the Child to be born of the Virgin is to be known as the Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God, and so on, and then, we also know that elsewhere in the Scriptures, the Child is also known as the Shoot of Jesse or the Shoot of David, the Son of David, Son of God and Son of Man. Emmanuel is one of His many titles, and its meaning underlines the very core of why we celebrate Christmas, that is God who dwells among us, His people.
Our Lord who is God has no need to be concerned about us. After all, He is God who is Almighty and sufficient in all things, and in love, He is perfectly united in love, the Three Aspects and Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in perfect love and harmony. Yet, He created us all out of His love, and He loved us all very much. To the point that even after we had sinned and deserved punishment and destruction, He was willing to forgive us and plan for our salvation.
And this salvation He had indeed given us through His own Son, part of His perfect Trinity, the Word, whom He sent into the world, so that from that moment on, God would truly dwell among His people, sharing their nature, inhabiting the flesh of Man, as the Son of Man, fully Man but also fully Divine at the same time. That is the wonder and mystery of Christmas, and one that we ought to celebrate with full and genuine understanding.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, God was willing to assume our lowly form, so that as a Human Being, He might suffer as we have suffered, and even more than that, so that He might bear the entirety of our sins and our iniquities. That even though He is innocent and pure, but He was punished for our sins, and by His wounds and His death on the cross, we are healed.
This Christmas, shall we reflect on these that we had just discussed? Our Christmas celebration is meaningless without Christ and without clear understanding of its true and real purpose. This is because if we do not understand, then our Christmas will be merely a loud fanfare without purpose and without reason, and it will be empty. Instead, we should place our focus on the true meaning of Christmas, that is our Lord, Emmanuel, God who is willing to dwell among His people out of His love for us.
In the remaining few days, let us prepare ourselves further, by discovering more and more about the love of God, which He made perfectly manifest through our Lord Jesus Christ, born in this Christmas Day. Let us follow Him and devote ourselves entirely to Him. Remember that He had loved us first, and we ought to also love Him back with all of our heart. God bless us all. Amen.
First Reading :
Psalm :
Gospel Reading :
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 23 : 7, 8, 9, 10
Lift up, o gateways, your lintels, open up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may enter!
Who is the King of glory? The Lord, the strong, the mighty, the Lord, valiant in battle.
Lift up your lintels, o gateways, open up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may enter!
Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory!
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 trampled 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. The Lord has sent a word against Jacob : the sentence fell upon Israel.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)
Psalm 32 : 2-3, 11-12, 20-21
Give thanks to Him on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.
But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord – the people He has chosen for His inheritance.
In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust in His Holy Name.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 112 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Alleluia! Praise, o servants of the Lord, praise the Name of the Lord! Blessed be the Name of the Lord now and forever.
From eastern lands to the western islands, may the Name of the Lord be praised! The Lord is exalted over the nations, His glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high, but also bends down to see on earth as in heaven?
He lifts up the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap. He makes them sit with princes, with rulers of His people.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 9 : 1-6
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 of 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 Counselor, 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 : Red
Deuteronomy 34 : 1-12
From the barren plain of Moab, Moses went up to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And YHVH showed him all the Land : from Gilead to Dan, the whole of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim, and of Manasseh, the whole land of Judah, as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, the Plains, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
And YHVH said to him, “This is the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promising it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not enter it.”
Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the will of YHVH. They buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but to this very day, no one knows where his tomb is.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. He did not lose his vigour and his eyes still saw clearly. The children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab for thirty days. But Joshua, son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him. The children of Israel obeyed him and did as YHVH had commanded Moses.
No prophet like Moses has appeared again. YHVH conversed with him face to face. What signs and wonders he worked in Egypt against Pharaoh, against his people and all his land! What a powerful hand was His that worked these terrible things in the sight of all Israel!
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mass of the Dedication of a Basilica)
Psalm 80 : 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
But My people did not listen; Israel did not obey. So I gave them over to their stubbornness and they followed their own counsels.
If only My people would listen, if only Israel would walk in My ways, I would quickly subdue their adversaries and turn My hand against their enemies.
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him, and their panic would last forever. I would feed you with the finest wheat and satisfy you with honey from the rock.
Alternative Reading (From the Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)
Judith 13 : 18bcde, 19
My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.
Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 