Isa 41:13-20; Matthew 11

Second Week of Advent
Readings and antiphons on p.62 of Daily Missal

Entrance Antiphon
You, O Lord, are close, and all your ways are truth. From of old I have known of your decrees, for you are eternal.

 

First Reading: Isaiah 41:13-20

A reading from the Book of Isaiah

I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”

Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you people of Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
you shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together;
that people may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it

The word of the Lord.

 

Responsorial psalm: Ps 145:1 and 9.10-11.12-13ab

Let us now pray the Responsorial Psalm:

R/. The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

I will extol you, my God and king,
and bless your name forever and ever.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.

All your works shall thank you, O Lord,
and all your faithful ones bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign,
and declare your mighty deeds.

They shall make known your might to the children of men,
and the glorious splendour of your reign.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule endures for all generations.

R/. The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

 

Please stand for the Gospel

Alleluia, Alleluia. Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down the Just One;
let the earth open, that it may bring forth the Saviour.
Alleluia.

 

 

Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

At that time:
Jesus said to the crowds,
Truly, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist;
yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,
and men of violence take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John;
and if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah who is to come.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Communion Antiphon
Let us live justly and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of the glory of  great God.