Friday of the Second week of Advent
Book of Isaiah 48:17-19.
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.

Psalms 1:1-2.3.4.6.
Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.
Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God’s law they study day and night.
They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.
The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:16-19.
To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
Commentary of the day : Latin Liturgy
Be converted to the repeated call of the God who comes

Thursday of the Second week of Advent
Book of Isaiah 41:13-20.
For I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know, observe and understand, That the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Psalms 145:1.9.10-11.12-13.
Praise. Of David. I will extol you, my God and king; I will bless your name forever.
The LORD is good to all, compassionate to every creature.
All your works give you thanks, O LORD and your faithful bless you.
They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your great works,
Making known to all your power, the glorious splendor of your rule.
Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in every word, and faithful in every work.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:11-15.
Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.
Commentary of the day : Saint Gregory the Great
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force”

Wednesday of the Second week of Advent
Book of Isaiah 40:25-31.
To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these: He leads out their army and numbers them, calling them all by name. By his great might and the strength of his power not one of them is missing!
Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

Psalms 103(102):1-2.3-4.8.10.
Of David. Bless the LORD, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, my soul; do not forget all the gifts of God,
Who pardons all your sins, heals all your ills,
Delivers your life from the pit, surrounds you with love and compassion,
Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in kindness.
Has not dealt with us as our sins merit, nor requited us as our deeds deserve.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:28-30.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Commentary of the day : Blessed Jan van Ruusbroec
“Come to me… for I am meek anad humble of heart”