by | Dec 8, 2022 | Evangelium

Friday 09 th december 2022

St. Juan Diego

Cuauhtlatoatzin

(1474 – 1548)

 

He was born in 1474 in Mexico. As an adult he embraced Christianity and he and his wife were baptized. In 1531 the Mother of God appeared to him. Through the purity of his faith, his humility and his fervour, a church was built, in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He devoted himself to the care of the sanctuary and the reception of pilgrims until his death in 1548.

 

Entrance Antiphon

Behold, the Lord will come descending with splendour to visit his people with peace, and he will bestow on them eternal life.

 

Collect

Grant that your people, we pray, almighty God, may be ever watchful for the coming of your Only Begotten Son, that, as the author of our salvation himself has taught us, we may hasten, alert and with lighted lamps, to meet him when he comes. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 

First reading : Isaiah 48:17-19

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea. Your children would have been numbered like the sand, your descendants as many as its grains. Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me.

 

Psalm 1:1-4,6

R/ Anyone who follows you, O Lord, will have the light of life.

 

  1. Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked; nor lingers in the way of sinners nor sits in the company of scorners, but whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders his law day and night.
  2. He is like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves shall never fade; and all that he does shall prosper.
  3. Not so are the wicked, not so! For they like winnowed chaff shall be driven away by the wind: for the Lord guards the way of the just but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia! See, the king, the Lord of the world, will come. He will free us from the yoke of our bondage.  Alleluia!

 

Gospel : Matthew 11:16-19

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place: “We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t be mourners.” ‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’

 

Prayer over the Offerings   

Be pleased, O Lord, with our humble prayers and offerings, and, since we have no merits to plead our cause, come, we pray, to our rescue with the protection of your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Communion Antiphon : Cf. Phil 3: 20-21

We await a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our mortal bodies, to conform with his glorified body.

 

Prayer after Communion   

Replenished by the food of spiritual nourishment, we humbly beseech you, O Lord, that, through our partaking in this mystery, you may teach us to judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Meditation

Being a Christian is not fashionable these days. Those who strive to live according to God’s law are mocked, despised and persecuted. Even within the church, many people choose which rules to follow and reject those which are not convenient for them. The usual justification is: God alone will judge; salvation is personal. God’s Word today is clear: those who obey God’s commandments will be blessed. They will succeed where others fail, they will stand firm when others stumble. Let us not be like the people of Jesus’ day, who always found an excuse to ridicule God’s messengers. Let us meditate on God’s Word and obey it, and we will reap the fruits of joy and fulfilment.