30 November 2025 (Sunday) / First Sunday of Advent

30 November 2025 (Sunday)

First Sunday of Advent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Isaiah 2: 1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 122: 1-9
Second Reading: Romans 13: 11-14
Alleluia: Psalms 85: 8
Gospel: Matthew 24: 37-44

First Reading: Isaiah 2: 1-5

The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem. And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 122: 1-9

R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together. For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

The testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee. Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Second Reading: Romans 13: 11-14

And that knowing the season; that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences.

Alleluia: Psalms 85: 8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
8 Show us Lord, your love; and grant us your salvation.
(1. [For the choirmaster Of the sons of Korah Psalm] Yahweh, you are gracious to your land, you bring back the captives of Jacob,
2. you take away the guilt of your people, you blot out all their sin.
3. You retract all your anger, you renounce the heat of your fury.
4. Bring us back, God our Saviour, appease your indignation against us!
5. Will you be angry with us for ever? Will you prolong your wrath age after age?
6. Will you not give us life again, for your people to rejoice in you?
7. Show us, Lord, your faithful love, grant us your saving help.
8. I am listening. What is God's message? Yahweh's message is peace for his people, for his faithful, if only they renounce their folly.
9. His saving help is near for those who fear him, his glory will dwell in our land.
10. Faithful Love and Loyalty join together, Saving Justice and Peace embrace.
11. Loyalty will spring up from the earth, and Justice will lean down from heaven.
12. Yahweh will himself give prosperity, and our soil will yield its harvest.
13. Justice will walk before him, treading out a path).
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 24: 37-44

And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark, and they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. Watch ye therefore, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come. But know this ye, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.

For our reflection today:

Today Advent begins, the liturgical time which prepares us for Christmas, inviting us to lift our gaze and open our hearts to welcome Jesus. During Advent we do not just live in anticipation of Christmas; we are also called to rekindle the anticipation of the glorious return of Christ — when he will return at the end of time — preparing ourselves, with consistent and courageous choices, for the final encounter with him. We remember Christmas, we await the glorious return of Christ, and also our personal encounter: the day in which the Lord will call. During these four weeks we are called to leave behind a resigned and routine way of life and to go forth, nourishing hope, nourishing dreams for a new future. This is a favourable time to open our hearts, to ask ourselves concrete questions about how and for whom we expend our lives. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2 December 2018)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)