Sunday, December 24, 2023
Liturgical Season: 
VII The Season of Sleebo
Special Significance: 
Sunday before Yaldo
(Christmas is tomorrow. Remind the faithful to bring the palm leaves of Palm Sunday and frankincense, etc)

Mt 1:1-17

The Genealogy of Jesus.* 1a The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.*

2b Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.c 3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.d Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4e Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5f Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, 6g Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. 7* h Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. 8Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. 9Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos,* Amos the father of Josiah. 11Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.

12i After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 15Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.

17Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.*

Gn 46:8-27

8These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his children, who came to Egypt.

Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,b 9* and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.c 10The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, son of a Canaanite woman.d 11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.e 12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah—but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.f 13The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.g 14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.h 15These were the sons whom Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, along with his daughter Dinah—thirty-three persons in all, sons and daughters.

16The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli.i 17The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, with their sister Serah; and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.j 18These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah; these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons in all.

19The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 20In the land of Egypt Joseph became the father of Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis, bore to him.k 21The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ahiram, Shupham, Hupham, and Ard.l 22These are the sons whom Rachel bore to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

23The sons of Dan: Hushim.m 24The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.n 25These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel; these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

26Jacob’s people who came to Egypt—his direct descendants, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons—numbered sixty-six persons in all.o 27Together with Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt—two persons—all the people comprising the household of Jacob who had come to Egypt amounted to seventy persons* in all.p

1 Kgs 9:3-7

3The LORD said to him: I have heard the prayer of petition which you offered in my presence. I have consecrated this house which you have built and I set my name there forever; my eyes and my heart shall be there always. 4As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, wholeheartedly and uprightly, doing all that I have commanded you, keeping my statutes and ordinances, 5b I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father: There shall never be wanting someone from your line on the throne of Israel. 6But if ever you and your descendants turn from following me, fail to keep my commandments and statutes which I set before you, and proceed to serve other gods and bow down to them, 7I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them and repudiate the house I have consecrated for my name. Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all nations,

Jer 23:5-8

5See, days are coming—oracle of the LORD—

when I will raise up a righteous branch for David;

As king he shall reign and govern wisely,

he shall do what is just and right in the land.e

6In his days Judah shall be saved,

Israel shall dwell in security.

This is the name to be given him:

“The LORD our justice.”f

7g Therefore, the days are coming—oracle of the LORD—when they shall no longer say, “As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt”; 8but rather, “As the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north”—and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own soil.

Is 11:1-9

1But a shoot shall sprout from the stump* of Jesse,

and from his roots a bud shall blossom.a

2* The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:b

a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

A spirit of counsel and of strength,

a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,

3and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.

Not by appearance shall he judge,

nor by hearsay shall he decide,

4But he shall judge the poor with justice,

and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted.c

He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.d

5Justice shall be the band around his waist,

and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.e

6* Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.f

7The cow and the bear shall graze,

together their young shall lie down;

the lion shall eat hay like the ox.g

8The baby shall play by the viper’s den,

and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.

9They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,

as water covers the sea.

Acts 3:20-26

20and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus,* 21whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration* of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 22For Moses said:*

‘A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you

from among your own kinsmen;

to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.l

23Everyone who does not listen to that prophet

will be cut off from the people.’m

24Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. 25You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’n 26For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”o

Heb 7:14-17

14It is clear that our Lord arose from Judah,* and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.f 15* It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up after the likeness of Melchizedek, 16who has become so, not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.* 17For it is testified:

“You are a priest forever

according to the order of Melchizedek.”g

Lk 2:1-5

The Birth of Jesus. 1* In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus* that the whole world should be enrolled. 2This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. 4And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,a 5to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.b