12 December 2025 (Friday)
Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast / Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading: Zechariah 2: 14-17 or Revelation 11: 19 12: 1-6, 10
Responsorial Psalm: Judith 13: 18, 19
Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38 or Luke 1: 39-47
First Reading : Zechariah 2:14‐17
Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you – it is the Lord who speaks. Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people. But he will remain among you, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you. But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his very own. Let all mankind be silent before the Lord! For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.
Responsive Psalm : Judith 13:18‐19
You are the highest honour of our race!
May you be blessed, my daughter, by God Most High, beyond all women on earth;
and may the Lord God be blessed,
the Creator of heaven and earth.
You are the highest honour of our race!
The trust you have shown
shall not pass from the memories of men,
but shall ever remind them
of the power of God.
You are the highest honour of our race!
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel : Luke 1:26‐38
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
For our reflection today:
“Rejoice” says the angel to Mary, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Lk 1:28, 31). What does she do? She responds thus: “Let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). “Let it be ” (“Fiat ”). But in the language in which the Gospel is written, it is not simply “let it be”. The verbal expression indicates a strong desire; it indicates the will that something happen. In other words, Mary does not say: “If it has to happen, let it happen, if it cannot be otherwise”. It is not resignation. She does not express a weak and submissive acceptance, but rather she expresses a strong desire, a sincere desire. She is not passive, she is active. She does not defer to God, she cleaves to God. She is a woman in love prepared to serve her Lord completely and immediately. Mary invites us not to postpone, to say “yes”: “Do I have to pray? — Yes” — and I pray. “Do I have to help others? — Yes”. “How shall I do it?” — I do it. Without putting it off. Every “yes” costs something; every “yes” has its cost, but it still costs less than what that courageous “yes” cost her, that prompt “yes", that “let it be to me according to your word ”, which brought us salvation. (Pope Francis, 20 December 2020)
Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)
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