DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

NOVEMBER 30, 2025

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

FIRST READING

ISAIAH 2:1-5

1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 121(122): 1-9

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Jerusalem, built as a city
which is bound firmly together,
to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they prosper who love you!
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers!”

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

SECOND READING

ROMANS 13:11-14

11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

The Word of the Lord
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GOSPEL

Watch and be ready - the day of the Lord's coming draws near

MATTHEW 24:37-44 OR (MATTHEW 4:18-22)

37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Finding the pearl of great price, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

"All who listen to the depths of the gospel and live it so completely that none of it remains veiled from them care very little about whether the end of the world will come suddenly and all at once or gradually and little by little. Instead, they bear in mind only that each individuals end or death will arrive on a day and hour unknown to him and that upon each one of us 'the day of the Lord will come like a thief' (1 Thessalonians 5:2). It is important therefore to be vigilant, whether in the evening (that is, in one's youth) or in the middle of the night (that is, at human life's darkest hour) or when the cock crows (at full maturity) or in the morning (when one is well advanced in old age).
"When God the Word comes and brings an end to the progress of this life, he will gather up the one who gave 'no sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids' (Psalm 132:4) and kept the commandment of the One who said, 'Be vigilant at all times' (Luke 21:36). ...But I know another kind of end for the righteous person who is able to say along with the apostle, 'Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world' (Galatians 6:14). In a certain sense, the end of the world has already come for the person to whom the world is crucified. And to one who is dead to worldly things the day of the Lord has already arrived, for the Son of man comes to the soul of the one who no longer lives for sin or for the world."

(excerpt Commentary on Matthew 56)
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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.