The Word today, Advent4A
- Admin
- Dec 20, 2025
- 3 min read
December 22 - December 27, 2025
1 Samuel 1:24-28 Hannah very much wanted to have a baby and, after the child’s birth, sang a great song of thanksgiving. Hannah’s song was the inspiration behind Mary’s song of thanksgiving, the Magnificat, in Luke’s Gospel.
Luke 1:46-56 Our responsorial “psalm”—the Song of Hannah—closely resembles the prayer of Mary in the Magnificat. Although this purports to be the meeting of the two pregnant cousins, very little is said of the children to come and instead we hear a great deal about social upheaval and political reversal.
St John of Kęty, Priest
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 To music lovers, this reading will sound familiar, from Handel’s Messiah. Malachi says that a figure like Elijah will usher in the end. This was taken to be John the Baptist who ushered in, so to speak, the Messiah and the messianic age.
Luke 1:57-66 The birth of John is told to lay the foundation for the similar yet significantly different story of the birth of Jesus. Both come as the result of a promise. On both occasions, there is “treasuring in the heart.” Both children will enjoy the blessing of God. And yet, one is the forerunner and the other is the Christ.
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 Anyone who comes to Mass on this morning will hear a striking reading from 2 Samuel 7: in reality one of the key texts in the OT. It portrays the fidelity of God as seen in God’s loyalty to David and his house. It makes for a great final reflection as we come to mark the birth of Jesus, the son of David, in whom all of God’s faithfulness came to be for us.
There is some word play in today’s reading: house means temple, residence and family line. Even in Nathan’s correction of David, a tremendous promise of God’s faithful through time comes to expression.
Luke 1:67-79 The Benedictus takes up the theme of the House of David and goes on to praise God who is now fulfilling in John and in Jesus his promises of old. The future role of John the Baptist is hauntingly evoked: to prepare the way for him, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins; this by the tender mercy of our God.
St Stephen, the first martyr
Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59 The author of Acts devotes a great deal of space to the story of Stephen’s death, much too long to read at Mass. The excerpted reading gives us the motivation for killing him and then moves immediately to his death. The aware bible reader will hear distinct echoes of the death of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. In this way, Luke reminds us that the disciple is not greater than the master.
A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. (Luke 6:40)
Jesus was a prophet and suffered for his witness — his calling and his destiny are ours too.
Matthew 10:17-22 This remarkable passage — based on Mark but also in Luke — cannot really come from the historical Jesus but seems to be, instead, a reflection on the experience of the early church. Given the way in which Stephen was inspired by the Spirit, this is a wholly suitable reading for the day.
St John, apostle and evangelist.
1 John 1:1-4 The first letter of John, written later in response to a new crisis, does not come from the evangelist but the later school, mentioned above. Our passage is an appeal to tradition (it echoes John 1:1-18) and experience (heard, seen, watched, touched). Given the critical context, the insistence upon joy is noteworthy.
John 20:2-8 We hear a part of a much longer scene in John 20, excerpted to profile the Beloved Disciple. This figure is partly historical and partly symbolic. He gets to the tomb first, precept because he is beloved. Likewise, it is the charismatic which counts and therefore “he saw and he believed.” The institution takes you only so far!
Reference
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025dd, December 21). Fourth Sunday of Advent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122125.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
Comments