THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 12 DECEMBER 2023

/ Michael J. Cunningham / Leave a comment

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Lectionary: 690A

Reading 1

ZEC 2:14-17

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! 
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

or

Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.  
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.”

Responsorial Psalm

JUDITH 13:18BCDE, 19

R. (15:9d)  You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God, 
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.

Alleluia 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise;
from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

or

Lk 1:39-47

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 11 DECEMBER 2023

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Monday of the Second Week of Advent

Lectionary: 181

Reading 1

Is 35:1-10

The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.

Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water;
The abode where jackals lurk
will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.
A highway will be there,
called the holy way;
No one unclean may pass over it,
nor fools go astray on it.
No lion will be there,
nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.
It is for those with a journey to make,
and on it the redeemed will walk.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (Isaiah 35:4f) Our God will come to save us!
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD –for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Our God will come to save us!
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Our God will come to save us!
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Our God will come to save us!

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold the king will come, the Lord of the earth,
and he himself will lift the yoke of our captivity.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 5:17-26

One day as Jesus was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem,
were sitting there,
and the power of the Lord was with him for healing.
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
“As for you, your sins are forgiven.”

Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,
“Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,
“What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.
Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God,
and, struck with awe, they said,
“We have seen incredible things today.”

Right or Righteousness?

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Right or Righteousness?

Right or righteousness. That’s the title of the reflection today. I wonder what the difference is. Do I want to be right, or do I want to be righteous? 

Righteousness is one of those words that has been co-opted dramatically by society in recent years. Let’s focus on a couple of definitions to begin with. In the Christian world being righteous means doing the will of God rather than your own. Your will or suggestions may co-incidentally be the same, but you were being driven by a requirement to let God take the lead. 

Of course, in practical terms this means dumping your own self-serving requirements into touch, and following the need for the common good, for what would be right, what  we think would be right in God’s eyes, and following that cause or course of action regardless of the negative consequences to ourselves.

Being right could be a whole other thing. A typical example might be, we know this is the way that something should be, and it’s the way we want it to be, and it may or may not be righteous, by the definition I just outlined earlier. But we’re going to go ahead and do it. Because we are right, and we know we are right. Or at least we’re convinced enough that we’re right, that we don’t want to leave any room for misinterpretation. 

This can work out OK if we have enough authority that no one’s going to question whether we’re right or wrong to complete the task or do our will, sometimes necessary with children, slightly less effective in the adult world. But if we don’t have the right authority, and, God forbid we turn out to be wrong and that can start a whole different series of events to occur. Now we found out that even though we were sure we were right, and we told everyone we were right, and we instructed them to do what was right, by us, and then it turned out to be wrong. 

Now what should we do? Admit we were wrong, cover it up, explain to others that they misinterpreted the instructions, or blame someone else. I think we’ve seen all these strategies in use around us in our lives at some point. Being 100% right, or rather being 100% sure that we’re right, can be a dangerous place to be. Certitude has been the predictor of many a downfall. Often our pride, and unwillingness to admit an error, lead us to lose credibility and trust amongst others, and our ability to learn from our mistakes. 

I started this reflection by comparing right from righteous or righteousness. But there’s another little interloper in this process as well. Those who are self-righteous. Now while being self-righteous should be self-defining in some ways. It is about being right and righteous at the same time. Which may or may not be possible. I think for the most part people see someone as self-righteous, as someone who is defining their acts or words as coming from a higher source, with the added certitude of themselves thrown in for good measure. When someone accuses you of being self-righteous it’s usually not a compliment. 

So where do we sit in the spectrum of right, righteousness and self-righteousness. We have probably all suffered at some point from all three points of this triangle. When we think about this in prayer terms, in our disposition towards God, a mindset or heartset on surrender is the only way that we can come to a righteous decision. And when we do can we proclaim it as being righteous? Without appearing to be self-righteous. Where do others in your life sit on this spectrum? As our sensitivity towards others increases, do we make the adjustments to accommodate their rightness, their righteousness, or their self-righteousness. Something to consider. Right or righteousness. 

Both sides of the fence

Photograph and Reflection Copyright 2023 Michael J. Cunningham OFS