22 December 2025 (Monday) / Advent Weekday / Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent

22 December 2025 (Monday)

Advent Weekday / Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church: 

First Reading: First Samuel 1: 24-28
Responsorial Psalm: First Samuel 2: 1, 4-5, 6-7, 8
Gospel: Luke 1: 46-56

First Reading : 1 Samuel 1:24‐28

When Hannah had weaned the infant Samuel, she took him up with her together with a three‐year‐old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the bull and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said, ‘If you please, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.’
  There she left him, for the Lord.

Responsive Psalm : 1 Samuel 2:1,4‐8

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
My heart exults in the Lord.
  I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies
  as I rejoice in your saving help.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
  but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread,
  but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now
  but the fruitful wife bears no more.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
It is the Lord who gives life and death,
  he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches.
  He brings men low and raises them on high.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
He lifts up the lowly from the dust,
  from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes
  to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
  on them he has set the world.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Luke 1:46‐56

Mary said:
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

For our reflection today:

The Magnificat, which the Gospel places on the lips of the young Mary, now radiates the light of all her days.  One single day — the day she met her cousin Elizabeth — contains the seed of every other day, of every other season. And words are not enough; a song is needed, one that continues to be sung in the Church “from generation to generation” (Lk 1:50), at the close of every day. The surprising fruitfulness of barren Elizabeth confirmed Mary in her trust; it anticipated the fruitfulness of her “yes,” which extends to the fruitfulness of the Church and of all humanity whenever God’s renewing Word is welcomed. That day, two women met in faith, then stayed together for three months to support each other, not just in practical matters but in a new way of reading history. Mary’s song, Magnificat, strengthens the hope of the humble, the hungry, the faithful servants of God.  These are the men and women of the Beatitudes who, even in tribulation, already see the invisible: the mighty cast down from their thrones, the rich sent away empty, the promises of God fulfilled. Such experiences should be found in every Christian community. They may seem impossible, but God’s Word continues to be brought to light. When bonds are born, with which we confront evil with good and death with life, we see that nothing is impossible with God (cf. Lk 1:37). (Pope Leo XIV, Homily, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2025)

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