11 December 2025 (Thursday) / Advent Weekday/ Saint Damasus I, Pope / Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

11 December 2025 (Thursday)

Advent Weekday/ Saint Damasus I, Pope.

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church: 

First Reading: Isaiah 41: 13-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 145: 1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13
Alleluia: Isaiah 45: 8
Gospel: Matthew 11: 11-15

First Reading: Isaiah 41: 13-20

13 For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.
14 Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.
15 I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shall thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful.
17 The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in the high bills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, the elm, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see and know, and consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 145: 1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13

R. (8) The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

1 I will extol thee, O God my king: and I will bless thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever.
9 The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

10 Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee.
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell of thy power.

R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

12 To make thy might known to the sons of men: and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom.
13 Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

Alleluia: Isaiah 45: 8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
8 Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
(8. Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down saving justice, let the earth open up and blossom with salvation, and let justice sprout with it; I, Yahweh, have created it!)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 11: 11-15

11 Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is the lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John:
14 And if you will receive it, he is Elias that is to come.
15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

For our reflection today:

Right here is “the greatness of John, a great man, the last of that group of believers that began with Abraham, the one who preaches repentance; who does not mince words in condemning the proud, who at life’s end permits himself to doubt”. This is a beautiful programme of Christian life. Let us ask “John for the grace of apostolic courage to always say things truthfully”; that of “pastoral love”. This means “to receive people with what little one can give, the first step”. God will do the rest. It is important, then, that “the great John, who is the least in the kingdom of heaven — for this he is great —, may he help us on this road in the Lord’s footsteps ”. (Pope Francis, Santa Marta, 15 December 2016)

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