The First Sunday of Advent. – Cycle A
Readings and Antiphons on p. 28 of the Daily Missal and on p. 21 of the Sunday Missal.

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

A reading from the Book of Isaiah.

The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills,
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide for many peoples,
and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.

O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122:1-2.4-5.6-7.8-9 (R. cf. 1)

Let us now pray the Responsorial Psalm beginning and ending with the response:

R/. We shall go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
For Israel’s witness, it is
to praise the name of the Lord.
There were set the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.

For the peace of Jerusalem pray,
“May they prosper, those who love you.”
May peace abide in your walls,
and security be in your towers.

For the sake of my family and friends,
let me say, “Peace upon you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God,
I will seek good things for you.

R/. We shall go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

 

Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14a

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans.

Brothers and sisters:

You know what hour it is,
how it is full-time now for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed;
the night is far gone, the day is at hand.
Let us then cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light;
let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day,
not in revelling and drunkenness,
not in debauchery and licentiousness,
not in quarrelling and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh.

The Word of the Lord.

 

Alleluia. Alleluia.
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation.
Alleluia.

 

Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

At that time:
Jesus said to his disciples,
“As were the days of Noah,
so will be the coming of the Son of man.
For as in those days before the flood
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day when Noah entered the ark,
and they did not know until the flood came
and swept them all away,
so will be the coming of the Son of man.
Then two men will be in the field;
one is taken and one is left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one is taken and one is left.
Watch therefore,
for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
But know this, that if the householder had known
in what part of the night the thief was coming,
he would have watched
and would not have let his house be broken into.
Therefore you also must be ready;
for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

The Gospel of the Lord.