DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
DECEMBER 29, 2024
SUNDAY - FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
FIRST READING
SIRACH 3:2-6, 12-14 OR (1 SAMUEL 1:20-22, 24-28)
2 For the Lord honors a father above his children, and he confirms a mother's right over her children. 3 Those who honor their father atone for sins, 4 and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure. 5 Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children, and when they pray they will be heard. 6 Those who respect their father will have long life, and those who honor their mother obey the Lord; 12 My child, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives; 13 even if his mind fails, be patient with him; because you have all your faculties do not despise him. 14 For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, and against your sins it will be credited to you.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 127(128):1-5 OR (PSALMS 83(84):2-3, 5-6, 9-10)
Response: Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Lo, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
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SECOND READING
COLOSSIANS 3:12-21 OR (COLOSSIANS 3:12-17 / 1 JOHN 3:1-2, 21-24)
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
The Word of the Lord
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GOSPEL
I must be in my Father's house
LUKE 2:41-52 OR (LUKE 2:22-40 / LUKE 2:22, 39-40)
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; 43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; 47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." 49 And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50 And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Jesus' humility shows us his divinity, by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.
The Lord's coming every year to Jerusalem for the Passover with his parents is an indication of his human humility. It is characteristic of human beings to gather to offer God the votive offerings of spiritual sacrifices, and by plentiful prayers and tears to dispose their Maker toward them. Therefore the Lord, born a human being among human beings, did what God, by divine inspiration through his angels, prescribed for human beings to do. He himself kept the law which he gave in order to show us, who are human beings pure and simple, that whatever God orders is to be observed in everything. Let us follow the path of his human way of life. If we take delight in looking upon the glory of his divinity, if we want to dwell in his eternal home in heaven all the days of our lives (Psalm 27:4), it delights us to see the Lord's will and to be shielded by his holy temple. And lest we be forever buffeted by the wind of wickedness, let us remember to frequent the house, the church of the present time, with the requisite offerings of pure petitions."
(excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.19)
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.