First Reading

First reading

Reading from the second book of Samuel

2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16

In those days, the Lord spoke to the prophet Nathan and said: «Go and tell my servant David that the Lord commands him to say this: ‘When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me, and your throne shall be established forever’ «.

Second reading

Reading from the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22

Brothers and sisters: The promise that God made to Abraham and his descendants, that they would inherit the world, did not depend on the observance of the law but on the justification obtained through faith.

In this way, through faith, which is a gift, the promise is assured to all his descendants, not only to those who observe the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is our father, as Scripture says: I have made you father of many nations.

He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. He hoped against hope, and so became the father of many nations, as it was said to him: Thus shall your descendants be. That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, «Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that she has conceived, and she will bear a son to whom you shall give the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins».

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.