Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

FIRST READING – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive.”

A reading from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:10-14)

In those days: The Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

(Psalm 24: 1-2.3-4ab.5-6 (R. cf. 7c.10c)

R/. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world, and all who dwell in it.

It is he who set it on the seas;

on the rivers he made it firm. R/.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who shall stand in his holy place?

The clean of hands and pure of heart,

whose soul is not set on vain things. R/.

R/. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Blessings from the Lord shall he receive,

and right reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the people who seek him,

who seek the face of the God of Jacob. R/.

SECOND READING – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

Jesus Christ, descended from David, is the Son of God.

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (Romans 1:1-7)

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word of the Lord.

ALLELUIA – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

(Matthew 1:23)

Alleluia. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son; and his name shall be called Emmanuel: God is with us. Alleluia.

GOSPEL – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 1:18-24)

Jesus was born of Mary who was betrothed to Joseph, the son of David.

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

Celebrant:

Jesus our Saviour is Emmanuel, God with us. He is present with us in every situation of our lives. Conscious of this truth, let us confidently present our petitions to him.

FOR THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH: that they may continually be signs and instruments of God’s loving presence in the world, especially through the love and compassion they show to the poor, the weak, and the lowly. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR THE LEADERS OF THE WORLD: that through their efforts, the victims of war, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping all forms of violence may find true healing. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR PREGNANT WOMEN: that God may keep them safe from every harm and grant that their babies may be born in good health of mind and body. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR OUR COMMUNITY: that the homeless, the lonely, the sick, the elderly, and all our brothers and sisters in difficult situations, may experience the joy of Christ through the love we show to them. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR OTHER INTENTIONS: (the sick, church projects or other activities).

FOR THE DEAD, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF OUR PARISH COMMUNITY AND FAMILY MEMBERS: that they may find eternal rest with the Lord. Let us pray to the Lord.

We pray in silence for our private intentions.

Celebrant:

Almighty father, you are always with us. Hear the prayers we bring before you this day and make us ready to welcome your son into our hearts. Through Christ our Lord.

R/. Amen.

TODAY’S REFLECTION – Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022

For the struggling individual, what is God’s will? How does he recognize it and what is one expected to do when God’s will is manifested? In the Gospel of today we see both Mary and Joseph exposed to what it means to accept God’s will in one’s life. For Mary, she has to expose herself to a gross misunderstanding in the public eye. For joseph, he was put into a dicey situation; the woman he trusts is pregnant outside of him. Yet in all these we find God protecting the interest of all who willingly accept his will for them. Through the Lord’s intervention the situation is amicably solved without involvement of outsiders.

Lord, give us the grace to accept your will in our lives, trusting that you will never abandon us, even when accepting your will exposes us to possible public danger or ridicule.

PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL

My Spiritual Check-up In Advent

Thank you for checking in this week for your Spiritual Cheek-up. There is no better time than now to have a spiritual cheek-up for our souls as we prepare for the coming of Our Lord this Advent Season. The idea behind this exercise is to re-examine ourselves, and make amends with God and put ourselves alright with Him.

When you go through this, remember it is designed to expose grey areas in our souls. This SPIRITUAL CHECK-UP IS ABSOLUTELY FREE unlike your medical cheek-up.

Use the following lists as guide to examine your life before the Lord. Please, take each one slowly and meditate on it carefully.

CURSING – Have you used gutter language? Swearing has no place in the life of a child of God. Never use exclamations beginning with “G”, “J”, “F”, or “C”; are they usually substitutes for curses against God. Have you failed to guard your speech? (Deut. 5:11; Matt. 5:33 – 37)

LEVITY – “Needless frivolity, silly talk – talking and acting like a moron”. Jests that tend to undermine the sacred and precious standards of life; “Bible” jokes that make light of the Holy Word of God; unprofitable, empty and often stupid foolishness achieves nothing but a dangerous devaluation of the Christian’s word. Real humor is a gift of God, and will always edify or prepare the way for the Holy Spirit; foolish levity is sin. (Ecc.5:3; Prov. 24:19; Eph. 5:4)

Inner Inspection

HARDNESS – Did you fight back, murmur or return evil for evil? Was your response to trial un-Christ like when you were wronged or hurt by someone? (Phil 2:14; I Cor. 10:10)

Habits – Have you continually over-indulged natural appetites until they have grown far beyond normal? Are you a slave to food, drink or stimulants? (Phil. 3:19; Prov. 23:21; I Cor. 6:19)

HALD-HEARTEDNESS – Can you remember times when you deliberately shirked your full share of responsibility? Did you skip times of secret or public prayer to please yourself when you should have been meeting with God? Have you been flippant and light with Him? (Prov. 19:15; 21:5; 24:11-12; Matt 25:1-13; 25:14-30; I Thess. 5:6; Jas. 4:13-17)

BROKEN VOWS – Is there a vow you made to God that you have not kept? Did you promise Him something that you have since forgotten or gone back upon? If it was unwise, you had better ask forgiveness and release; He expects you to KEEP voluntary vows! (Eccl. 5:1-6)

DIAGNOSIS

If the Holy Spirit shows us our sin, we must go back to the cross where the Lord first met us. We see the Lord Jesus once crucified – for that sin – bearing our penalty. Our sin nails Jesus to the cross all over again. We tear open His wounds and make His redemption a mockery.

Walk out into the light of reality. Drop your self-deceit and face this sin for what it really is. Turn from it, from your heart. Take sides with God against it,- resolve in your heart NEVER to go back into that sin again.

MEDICATION OR SURGERY NEEDED?

Note that, “If we confess our sins, He is FAITHFUL and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 Jn. 1:9) Will you go to your gracious and loving Father as a little child and humbly ask His forgiveness?

The LORD is merciful and gracious…He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; “For as the heaven is above the earth, so great is His mercy towards them that fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” (Ps. 103:12)

Will you go to your gracious and loving Father as a little child and humbly ask His forgiveness? Note that, “If we confess our sins, He is FAITHFUL and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 Jn. 1:9)

Let Us Pray (Please go down on your kneels and pray for forgiveness)

“Oh God, You know my foolishness, and my sin is not concealed from You…please pardon my iniquity, for it is great…If you, Lord, would mark iniquities, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” (Ps. 69:5; 25:11; 130:3-4) look with pity on me, your humble servant, and have mercy in Jesus name.

Mary my dearest mother pray to Jesus for me.

Thank you for taking time out to have your spiritual health cheeked this Advent Season; the more often you get cheeked, the healthier spiritually you will be.

Catholic Sunday Mass Reading + Reflection (Homily): 18th December 2022 + Personal Devotional