20 December 2025 (Saturday) / Advent Weekday / Saturday of the Third Week of Advent

20 December 2025 (Saturday)

Advent Weekday / Saturday of the Third Week of Advent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Isaiah 7: 10-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 24: 1-6
Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

First Reading: Isaiah 7: 10-14

10 And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:
11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above.
12 And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.
13 And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 24: 1-6

R. (7 and 10) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.
2 For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

3 Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob
.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:
37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.
38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

For our reflection today:

Today, the Gospel tells us about one of the most important, most beautiful moments in the history of humanity: the Annunciation (cf. Lk 26-38), when Mary’s “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel permitted the Incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus. It is a scene that inspires the greatest wonder and emotion because God, the Most High, the Omnipotent, by means of the Angel converses with a young girl from Nazareth, asking for her collaboration for His plan of salvation. As in the scene of the creation of Adam, painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, where the finger of the heavenly Father touches the finger of the man; thus here too the human and the divine encounter each other, at the beginning of our Redemption, they meet with a wonderful delicacy, in the blessed instant in which the Virgin Mary utters her “yes”. She is a woman in a small peripheral village and is called for ever to the centre of history: on her answer depends the fate of humanity, which can smile and hope again, because its destiny has been placed in good hands. She will be the one to bear the Saviour, conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 December 2024)

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