Feast of the Holy Family

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Sunday – 29 December 2013

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Verses:         

Sirach 3:2-7, 12-14

Psalm 128: 1-5

Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

FIRST READING: A Reading from the Book of Sirach (Sirach 3:2-7, 12-14)

² for the Lord has given fathers authority over their children and given children the obligation to obey their mothers. ³ If you respect your father, you can make up for your sins, ⁴ and if you honor your mother, you are earning great wealth. ⁵ If you respect your father, one day your own children will make you happy; the Lord will hear

your prayers. ⁶ If you obey the Lord by honoring your father and making your mother happy, you will live a long life. ⁷ Obey your parents as if you were their slave.

¹² My child, take care of your father when he grows old; give him no cause for worry as long as he lives. ¹³ Be sympathetic even if his mind fails him; don't look down on him just because you are strong and healthy. ¹⁴ The Lord will not forget the kindness you show to your father; it will help you make up for your sins.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (Psalm 128:1-5)

The Reward of Obedience to the Lord

128 Happy are those who obey the Lord,
    who live by his commands.

² Your work will provide for your needs;
    you will be happy and prosperous.
³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,
    and your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
⁴ A man who obeys the Lord
    will surely be blessed like this.

⁵ May the Lord bless you from Zion!
    May you see Jerusalem prosper
    all the days of your life!

SECOND READING: A Reading from the Letter to the Colossians (Colossians 3:12-21)

¹² You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just

as the Lord has forgiven you. ¹⁴ And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity. ¹⁵ The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Christ's message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts. ¹⁷ Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father.

Personal Relations in the New Life

¹⁸ Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what you should do as Christians.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

²⁰ Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents always, for that is what pleases God.

²¹ Parents, do not irritate your children, or they will become discouraged.

GOSPEL: A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Matthew (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23)

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave.”

¹⁴ Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

The Return from Egypt

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.” ²¹ So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.

²² But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given more instructions in a dream, so he went to the province of Galilee ²³ and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

All the glory of the king's daughter is within in golden borders, Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

-- Ps. Xliv. 14, 15

For the mass, you may visit Sambuhay TV Mass at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eylAqU5_3Is

Source:

www.ewtn.com

Good News Translation (GNT)

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