Responsorial Psalm

℟. (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
   who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
   blessed shall you be, and favored.

℟. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
   in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
   around your table.

℟. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
   who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
    may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life.

℟. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Or:

℟. (cf. 5a) Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
   My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

℟. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

Happy they who dwell in your house!
   Continually they praise you.
Happy the men whose strength you are!
Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.

℟. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

O LORD of hosts, hear our prayer;
   hearken, O God of Jacob!
O God, behold our shield,
   and look upon the face of your anointed.

℟. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

2nd Reading

Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17 or 1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
   heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
   bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
   if one has a grievance against another;
   as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
   that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
   the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
   as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
   singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
   with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
   do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
   giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
   as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
   and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
   for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
   so they may not become discouraged.

Or:

We are called children of God. And so we are.

A reading from the first Letter of Saint John

Beloved:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
   that we may be called the children of God.
And so we are.
The reason the world does not know us
   is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
   what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
   for we shall see him as he is.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
   we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask,
   because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
   we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
   and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him,
   and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us
   is from the Spirit that he gave us.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 2:13-15, 19-23 or Lk 2:41-52

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

When the magi had departed, behold,
   the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
   “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
   and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
   and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
   that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
   Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod had died, behold,
   the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
   to Joseph in Egypt and said,
   “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
   for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother,
   and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
   in place of his father Herod,
   he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
   he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
   so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled,
   He shall be called a Nazorean.

Or:

His parents found Jesus sitting in the midst of the teachers.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
   and when he was twelve years old,
   they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
   the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
   but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
   they journeyed for a day
   and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
   but not finding him,
   they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
   sitting in the midst of the teachers,
   listening to them and asking them questions,
   and all who heard him were astounded
   at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
   they were astonished,
   and his mother said to him,
  “Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
   “Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
   and was obedient to them;
   and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor
   before God and man.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of
the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right
hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the
Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to
the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Gospel Canticle

Ant. Lord, give us light through the example of your family and guide our feet into the way of peace.

Canticle of Zechariah
Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner

Blessed + be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old †
  that he would save us from our enemies, *
  from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
   all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.


Ant. Lord, give us light through the example of your family and guide our feet into the way of peace.