Emmanuel had come and He is already with us. So then how are we living in His presence? And as we are now closer to celebrating His ‘birthday’ have we prepared room in our hearts to receive Him? Have we stayed awake? Alert!
If our answer is Yes then is it shown in our day to day dealings with one another? Is the gift of His righteousness ingrained in us? Are we people of integrity after our Lord’s heart? Have we been docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit especially in times of uncertainty and disappointments? Have we exercised patience and humility when challenged or in the face of derision? Can we truly proclaim to the World that God is with us!?
My response, “Here I am Lord, I’ve come to do Your Will.” Amen Alleluia!
First reading
Jeremiah 23:5-8 ·
I will raise a virtuous Branch for David
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David,
who will reign as true king and be wise,
practising honesty and integrity in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel dwell in confidence.
And this is the name he will be called:
The-Lord-our-integrity.
So, then, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when people will no longer say, “As the Lord lives who brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt!” but, “As the Lord lives who led back and brought home the descendants of the House of Israel out of the land of the North and from all the countries to which he had dispersed them, to live on their own soil.”
Gospel
Matthew 1:18-24
How Jesus Christ came to be born
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.
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