Mass Readings
Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 13th December, 2025Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday’s Readings
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
Old & New Testament prophets, Elijah and John the Baptist, both bear witness to Jesus as the Christ.
Saint of the Day: December 13; St Lucy, consecrated to Christ, martyred in 304 in Sicily during the Diocletian persecution
c/f short history of today’s saint can be found below today’s Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sirach) 48:1-4. 9-11
Elijah will come again.
The prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
It was he who brought famine on them, and who decimated them in his zeal.
By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire.
How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as you have? – taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses; designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob, Happy shall they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 79:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Rv v4
Response God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
1. O shepherd of Israel, hear us, shine forth from your cherubim throne.
Lord, rouse up your might, O Lord, come to our help. Response
2. God of hosts, turn again, we implore, look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your right hand has planted. Response
3. May your hand be on the man you have chosen, the man you have given your strength.
And we shall never forsake you again: give us life that we may call upon your name. Response
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
The day of the Lord is near. Look he comes to save us.
Alleluia
Or Lk 3:4.6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.
And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 17:10-13 Glory to you , O lord
Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him.
As they came down the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus,
‘Why do the scribes say then that Elijah has to come first?’
‘True;‘ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be;
however, I tell you that Elijah has come already
and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased;
and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’
The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
*****************************
Gospel Reflection Saturday Second Week of Advent Matthew 17:10-13
At the time of Jesus there was an ancient Jewish tradition that just before the coming of the Messiah God would send the prophet Elijah back to earth to prepare people for the Messiah’s coming. ‘I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents towards their children and of children towards their parents…’ (Malachi 4:5-6). That tradition is behind the question of the disciples to Jesus in today’s gospel reading, ‘Why do the scribes say then that Elijah must come first?’
Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the promised Elijah, and, by implication, he is identifying himself as the Messiah.
Yet, as Jesus goes on to say, ‘they treated him (John the Baptist) as they pleased’. John had been beheaded by Herod Antipas. Jesus then announces that he will suffer the same hostile fate as John the Baptist, ‘the Son of Man will suffer similarly’. Jesus announces that his contemporaries have already rejected God’s messenger sent to announce the coming of the Lord and they are soon to reject the Lord himself. We can all fail to recognize God’s messengers. We can even fail to recognize the Lord himself when he comes to us.
Advent is a time when we pray the prayer, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’. We might also need to pray the prayer, ‘Lord, help me to recognize you when you come’.
The Lord can come to us in ways that we had not expected. He can come to us even in and through those circumstances of our lives that seem to suggest the Lord is absent. He can come to us through people whom we might not associate with the Lord. The Lord is always coming in a whole variety of guises. He is often most powerfully present at those moments when we sense his absence. We pray this Advent for eyes to recognize his various comings to us.
________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/ The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from Fr Martin Hogan’s book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is Near to You, on your lips and in your heart published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
____________
Saint of the Day: 13th Dec. St Lucy, martyr
Lucy died at Syracuse in Sicily, probably in the persecution of the emperor Diocletian in 304. Widely venerated from the earliest times, her memorial has long been kept on this day. Probably because her name is suggestive of light, her intercession has been sought for eyesight problems. Named in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon) and remembered as a youth, radiant with Christian faith and courage.
Fr John Murray PP writes:
“Our modern age may look at the short life of Lucy and the path she chose as somewhat bizarre. The idea of the sacrifices she embraced – and especially the sacrifice of chastity – seem alien.” Some years ago I was teaching church history as part of a course for A-level studies. The period we covered was the early Church and part of that interesting era was the story of the persecutions. The ‘four S‘s’ was one way of helping the students remember that particular series of events: ‘Short, Sharp, Severe and Sporadic,’ I would tell them.
Throughout those first three hundred years of the history of the Church, persecution was in isolated pockets throughout the Mediterranean area (sporadic); it could often be bloody with much loss of life (severe); but most persecutions never seemed to last too long (short). That was until the ‘Great Persecution’ during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. And this happened during the years 303-312.
It was during this persecution that the St Lucy we remember this month gave her life for the Lord. How many countless little girls in Christian history have borne the beautiful name of Lucy! The story of the saint is a story of historical facts mixed with lots of legends.
St Lucy Herself
Lucy had by this time made known her intentions to her mother, and these did not include marriage. Already within the early Church there was growing up a desire among young men and women to give their lives to Christ in virginity.
Stories of Martyrdom
The third century had been relatively quiet in terms of persecution and so, when martyrdom was not an option – Christians grew up with the stories of the great martyrs and heroes and heroines of an earlier Church – the desire to consecrate one’s life in chastity became a real desire for many. Such was the choice of Lucy. One of her more prominent suitors was very unhappy about this and when he was unable to marry her, he denounced her to Paschasius, the governor of Sicily, as a Christian.
Lucy remained Spiritually Free
Lucy was defiant: ‘No one’s body is polluted so as to endanger the soul if it has not pleased the mind. If now, against my will, you cause me to be polluted, a twofold purity will be gloriously imputed to me. You cannot bend my will to your purpose.’
When the soldiers came to remove her they found she was so full of the Holy Spirit that they could not move her, even when they tied her to a team of oxen. Then they proceeded to stab her in the throat and finally when that failed, they gouged out her eyes.
Lucy’s Eyes
In paintings and statues, Lucy is often seen holding her eyes on a plate. In one translation of Dante’s Purgatorio, it is noted that Lucy was admired by
Our modern age may look at the short life of Lucy and the path she chose as somewhat bizarre. The age in which we live so encourages us in the words of a pop anthem made famous by Queen: ‘I want it all and I want it now.‘ The idea of sacrifice – and especially the sacrifice of chastity – seems alien. And yet one dares to hope that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire young men and women to make sacrifices for the sake of others – and above all, for the sake of Christ. To fall in love with Jesus, to be excited and enthralled by Him – it is still possible.
Lucy’s Story
The story of Lucy and her witness in martyrdom touched a new generation of Christians in the fourth century – just as the story of Agatha had inspired Lucy – and soon veneration to her sprang up in the Church. Her name is one of seven female saints who came to be venerated in the first Eucharistic prayer which became known as the ‘Roman Canon‘.
The incorrupt relics of St. Lucy, in the church of San Geremia, Venice
Prayer to St Lucy
St. Lucy, intercede for all those suffering from blindness or loss of sight.
Ask the Holy Spirit to fill our minds and our imaginations with a zeal for heaven,
that we may not compromise ourselves for the sake of security here on earth
and that we may lose our lives in order to find them.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.******************************
Memorable Sayings for Today
Nothing is more beautiful in the eyes of God than a soul that loves to hear his Word.
~ Martin Luther ~Always pray
to have eyes that see the best, a heart that forgives the worst,
a mind that forgets the bad and a soul that never looses faith.Unknown author
******************************