Monday, December 25, 2023
Liturgical Season: 
VII The Season of Sleebo
Special Significance: 
Yaldo (Christmas)
Holy Qurbono for the People

Jn 1:6-18

6* A man named John was sent from God.e 7He came for testimony,* to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.f 8He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.g 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.h

10He was in the world,

and the world came to be through him,

but the world did not know him.

11He came to what was his own,

but his own people* did not accept him.

12i But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13* j who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

14And the Word became flesh*

and made his dwelling among us,

and we saw his glory,

the glory as of the Father’s only Son,

full of grace and truth.k

15* John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said,l ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” 16From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace,* 17because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.m 18No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God,* who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.n

Gn 21:1-8

Birth of Isaac.* 1The LORD took note of Sarah as he had said he would; the LORD did for her as he had promised.a 2Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had stated.b 3Abraham gave the name Isaac to this son of his whom Sarah bore him.c 4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded.d 5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6Sarah then said, “God has given me cause to laugh,* and all who hear of it will laugh with me.e 7Who would ever have told Abraham,” she added, “that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 8The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great banquet on the day of the child’s weaning.

2 Kgs 4:8-17

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son. 8One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who pressed him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he would stop there to dine. 9So she said to her husband, “I know that he is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, 10let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there.”b

11One day Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight. 12Then he said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.” He did so, and when she stood before Elisha, 13he told Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘You have troubled yourself greatly for us; what can we do for you? Can we say a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I am living among my own people.”* 14Later Elisha asked, “What can we do for her?” Gehazi answered, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 15Elisha said, “Call her.” He did so, and when she stood at the door, 16Elisha promised, “This time next year you will be cradling a baby son.” She said, “My lord, you are a man of God; do not deceive your servant.”c 17Yet the woman conceived, and by the same time the following year she had given birth to a son, as Elisha had promised;

Mi 5:1-4

1* But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathaha

least among the clans of Judah,

From you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel;

Whose origin is from of old,

from ancient times.

2Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time

when she who is to give birth has borne,*

Then the rest of his kindred shall return

to the children of Israel.b

3He shall take his place as shepherd

by the strength of the LORD,

by the majestic name of the LORD, his God;

And they shall dwell securely, for now his greatness

shall reach to the ends of the earth:

4he shall be peace.*

If Assyria invades our country

and treads upon our land,

We shall raise against it seven shepherds,

eight of royal standing;

Is 9:1-7

1The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

Upon those who lived in a land of gloom

a light has shone.a

2You have brought them abundant joy

and great rejoicing;

They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest,

as they exult when dividing the spoils.

3For the yoke that burdened them,

the pole on their shoulder,

The rod of their taskmaster,

you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.* b

4For every boot that tramped in battle,

every cloak rolled in blood,

will be burned as fuel for fire.c

5For a child* is born to us, a son is given to us;

upon his shoulder dominion rests.

They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,d

Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.

6His dominion is vast

and forever peaceful,

Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom,

which he confirms and sustains

By judgment and justice,

both now and forever.e

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

7The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,

and it falls upon Israel;

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

Mt 2:1-12

The Visit of the Magi.* 1When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,* behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star* at its rising and have come to do him homage.”a 3When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.* 5b They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:

6‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

since from you shall come a ruler,

who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” 9After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 10They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 11* c and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.