18 December 2025 (Thursday) / Advent Weekday / Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

18 December 2025 (Thursday)

Advent Weekday / Thursday of the Third Week of Advent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Jeremiah 23: 5-8
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 72: 1-2, 12-13, 18-19
Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-25

First Reading : Jeremiah 23:5‐8

See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David, who will reign as true king and be wise,
practising honesty and integrity in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel dwell in confidence. And this is the name he will be called: The‐Lord‐our‐integrity. So, then, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when people will no longer say, “As the Lord lives who brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt!” but, “As the Lord lives who led back and brought home the descendants of the House of Israel out of the land of the North and from all the countries to which he had dispersed them, to live on their own soil.”

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 71(72):1‐2,12‐13,18‐19

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
O God, give your judgement to the king,
  to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
  and your poor in right judgement.
In his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
For he shall save the poor when they cry
  and the needy who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak
  and save the lives of the poor.
In his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.
Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel,
  who alone works wonders,
ever blessed his glorious name.
  Let his glory fill the earth.
Amen! Amen!
In his days justice shall flourish, and peace until the moon fails.

Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Matthew 1:18‐25

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God‐is‐with‐us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home. He had not had intercourse with her when she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

For our reflection today:

The Holy Father said the day’s Gospel reading (Mt 1:18-25) presents Joseph as “a righteous man, who observed the Law, worked hard, was humble, and loved Mary.” When first faced with something he did not understand, “he preferred to step back” but “God revealed to him his mission.” So St. Joseph took up his new role wholeheartedly, and helped raise the Son of God, “in silence, without judging, without speaking poorly of others, and without gossiping.”

“He helped him grow and develop. So he looked for a place for the child to be born. He looked after him, helped him grow, and taught him to work: many things… in silence. He never took possession of the child for himself. He silently let him grow. He let him grow: This idea could help us immensely, we who by nature always want to stick our noses in everything, especially in the lives of others… And we start gossiping, talking… But he let him grow, silently watching over him and helping him.”

Pope Francis said many parents have the wise attitude of caring for their children without being overbearing. He said they have the capacity to wait, without immediately yelling if the child makes a mistake. It’s important to know how to wait, he said, before saying something to help them grow. God, the Pope said, has the same patient attitude with His children, since He waits in silence.

Man of dreams.
The Holy Father also explored St. Joseph’s capacity to dream, saying he was a practical man but kept his heart open like “a man of dreams” and not like “a dreamer”. “Dreams are a privileged place to seek after truth, because there we cannot defend ourselves against the truth. They come, and God speaks through dreams. Not always, because often it is our subconscious that comes forth, but many times God choses to speak through dreams. He often did so in the Bible. In dreams. But Joseph was a man of dreams, but not a dreamer, okay? He wasn’t abstract. A dreamer is something different. It’s someone who believes… goes off… has his head in the clouds, and doesn’t have his feet on the ground. Joseph had his feet on the ground. But he was open-minded.”

Don’t lose the ability to dream.
Finally, Pope Francis invited us not to lose the ability to dream and to open ourselves to tomorrow with trust, despite the difficulties that may come. “Don’t lose the ability to dream the future. Each of us needs to dream about our family, our children, and our parents: to imagine how I would like their lives to go. Priests, too, need to dream about what we want for the faithful. Dream as the young dream, who are ‘unabashed’ in their dreams and find their path there. Do not lose the ability to dream, because to dream is to open the door to the future. Be fruitful in the future.” (Pope at Mass: ‘St. Joseph raises Jesus in silence').

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