The Second Sunday of Advent. – Cycle A
Readings and Antiphons on p. 48 of the Daily Missal and on p. 25 of the Sunday Missal.

 

Entrance Antiphon.

O people of Zion, behold, the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart.

 

First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10

A reading from the Book of Isaiah.

On that day:
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

 

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,
and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

 

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

 

In that day the root of Jesse shall stand
as an ensign to the peoples;
him shall the nations seek,
and his dwellings shall be glorious.

 

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17(R. see 7)

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

R/. In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace for ever.

O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice,
and your poor in right judgement.

In his days shall justice flourish,
and great peace till the moon is no more.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the bounds of the earth.

For he shall save the needy when they cry,
the poor, and those who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak and the needy,
and save the lives of the needy.

May his name endure for ever,
his name continue like the sun.
Every tribe shall be blest in him,
all nations shall call him blessed.

R/. In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace for ever.

 

Second Reading: Romans 15:4-9

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

Brothers and sisters:

Whatever was written in former days
was written for our instruction,
that by steadfastness
and by the encouragement of the scriptures
we might have hope.
May the God of steadfastness and encouragement
grant you to live in such harmony with one another,
in accord with Christ Jesus,
that together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you,
for the glory of God.
For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised
to show God’s truthfulness,
in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.
As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”

 

The Word of the Lord.

 

Alleluia. Alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight;
all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia.

 

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

In those days came John the Baptist,
preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah
when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.”

Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair,
and a leather belt around his waist;
and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Then went out to him Jerusalem
and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan,
and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming for baptism,
he said to them,
“You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruit that befits repentance,
and do not presume to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father’;
for I tell you, God is able from these stones
to raise up children to Abraham.
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees;
every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance,
but he who is coming after me is mightier than I,
whose sandals I am not worthy to carry;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into the granary,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Communion Antiphon.

Jerusalem, arise and stand upon the heights, and behold the joy which comes to you from God.