6 December 2025 (Saturday) / Advent Weekday/ Nicholas, Bishop / Saturday of the First Week of Advent

6 December 2025 (Saturday)

Advent Weekday/ Saint Nicholas, Bishop.

Saturday of the First Week of Advent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23-26
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 147: 1-6
Alleluia: Isaiah 33: 22
Gospel: Matthew 9: 35 – 10: 1, 5-8

First Reading: Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23-26

For the people of Sion shall dwell in Jerusalem: weeping thou shalt not weep, he will surely have pity on thee: at the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee. And the Lord will give you spare bread, and short water: and will not cause thy teacher to flee away from thee any more, and thy eyes shall see thy teacher. And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left. And rain shall be given to thy seed, wheresoever thou shalt sow in the land: and the bread of the corn of the land shall be most plentiful, and fat. The lamb in that day shall feed at large in thy possession: And thy oxen, and the ass colts that till the ground, shall eat mingled provender as it was winnowed in the floor. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every elevated hill rivers of running waters in the day of the slaughter of many, when the tower shall fall. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days: in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people, and shall heal the stroke of their wound.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 147: 1-6

R. (Isaiah 30:18) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good: to our God be joyful and comely praise. The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the dispersed of Israel.

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises. Who telleth the number of the stars: and calleth them all by their names.

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Great is our Lord, and great is his power: and of his wisdom there is no number. The Lord lifteth up the meek, and bringeth the wicked down even to the ground.

R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Alleluia: Isaiah 33: 22
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
22 The LORD is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King; he it is who will save us.
22. (For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king and our Saviour.)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 9: 35 – 10: 1, 5-8

And Jesus went about all the cities, and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease, and every infirmity. And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give.

For our reflection today:

Why   proclaim: The motivation lies in a few words of Jesus, which it is good for us to remember: “Freely you have received, freely give” (v. 8). They are just a few words. But why proclaim? Because I have received freely, and I should give freely. The proclamation does not begin from us, but from the beauty of what we have received for free, without merit: meeting Jesus, knowing him, discovering that we are loved and saved. It is such a great gift that we cannot keep it to ourselves, we feel the need to spread it; but in the same style, right? That is, in gratuitousness. In other words: we have a gift, so we are called to make a gift of ourselves; we have received a gift and our vocation is to make a gift of ourselves to others; there is in us the joy of being children of God, it must be shared with our brothers and sisters who do not yet know it! This is the reason for the proclamation. Going forth and bringing the joy of what we have received. (Pope Francis, General Audience, 15 February 2023)

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