The Word today, Advent3A
- Admin
- Dec 13, 2025
- 3 min read
December 15 - December 20, 2025
Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17 Balaam was a prophet in Moab. When the king of Moab tried to get him to curse Israel, he uttered instead a remarkable blessing. The last lines speak of a star and a sceptre, symbols of the coming Messiah, picked up in Matthew 1-2.
Matthew 21:23-27 Jesus counters a trick question and yet it is obvious that he think John the Baptist came from God.
Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13 Both praise and blame are found in this reading. In these days, when affirmation is considered so healthy, we can listen to both!
Matthew 21:23-27 This is one of the blindingly obvious parables. The closing identification with the acceptance or rejection of John should not leave us off the hook. Are there people today whose uncomfortable word I resist?
The next 8 days, December 17-24, form a special period within Advent, intensifying the preparation for the birth of Jesus. The readings, while perhaps unfamiliar, are chosen with the greatest care. The Gospel writers did indeed have Old Testament anticipations very much in mind. The “match” between the first reading and the Gospel in these final days should help us reflect even more deeply as we mark the birth of the longed-for Messiah.
Genesis 49:2, 8-10 The great patriarch Jacob is about to die and he gathers his sons around him for a final blessing. The blessing to Judah (= son, tribe and tribal area) includes a reference to the sceptre—pointing to the much later Davidic dynasty. God’s fidelity to David’s line is fulfilled in Jesus. It thus prepares for the Gospel, which is the genealogy in Matthew.
Matthew 1:1-17 This apparently dry genealogy tells several stories. The story of Jesus ancestors—with many not so holy! The women are mightily significant—God writing straight with crooked lines of human lives! There is hope for us all, seems to be part of the message. The grand schema is also eloquent, as it moves from promise and possession to loss and longing. Thus the writer sets the stage for the birth of Jesus.
Jeremiah 23:5-8 The oracle cited here has its historical place in the Exile (as is very clear from the reading itself). But the real reason for the choice lies in the first couple of verses, which underline God’s faithfulness to David and his offspring. This prepares directly for the Gospel.
Matthew 1:18-24 This passage continues where yesterday’s left off. God-with-us—Emmanuel—reminds us of God’s word to Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Jeremiah and so forth. Also to us, if we reflect back.
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25 The birth stories of Jesus in Matthew 1- 2 and Luke 1-2 often echo highly signifcant accounts in the Old Testament. Today’s reading from Judges is an example: an annunciation to a woman who is childless. There is even a similarity between the word nazirite (a kind of prophet) and Nazareth (or Nazarene).
Luke 1:5-25 Our Gospel is also an annunciation but this time to a childless father, to Zechariah the priest who is to become the father of John the Baptism.
St Fachanan, bishop
Isaiah 7:10-14 This passage from Isaiah is explicitly cited in Matthew’s account of the annunciation to Joseph in a dream.
Luke 1:26-38 The annunciation to Mary (the fourth in our sequence) matches the pattern of Old Testament annunciation scenes and then, significantly, breaks it. Mary is open to God’s call.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025dc, December 14). Third Sunday of Advent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121425.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
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