Mass Readings
Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 21st November, 2024Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings
11-21 The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary, is wholly given over to the Holy Spirit
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Zechariah 2:14-17
Rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming.
Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion;
for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you –
It is the Lord who speaks.
Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people.
But he will remain among you, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.
But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the Holy Land,
and again make Jerusalem his very own.
Let all mankind be silent before the Lord!
For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Lk 1:46-55
Response The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name
Or Blessed is the Virgin Mary who bore the Son of the eternal Father.
1. My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour. Response
2. Henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy his name! Response
3. His mercy is from age to age, on those who fear him.
He puts forth his arm in strength and scatters the proud-hearted. Response
4. He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly.
He fills the starving with good things, sends the rich away empty. Response
5. He protects Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy,
the mercy promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his sons for ever. Response
Gospel Acclamation Lk 11: 28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 12:46-50 Glory to you, O Lord
Stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.’
Jesus was still speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; 
they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him.
But to the man who told him this Jesus replied,
‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’
And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said,
‘Here are my mother and my brothers.
Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven,
he is my brother and sister and mother.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Matthew 12:46-50
The feast of Mary’s presentation as a child in the temple in Jerusalem celebrates an important truth about Mary: From the beginning of her life, she was dedicated to God, given over to God’s purposes. Because of her dedication to God from an early age, she was called by God to become a greater temple than the magnificent temple in Jerusalem. If the temple in Jerusalem was the house of God, the place where God was believed to be present in a special way, Mary became the house of the Lord in an even greater way, because she carried the Lord in her womb until she give birth to him. God came to dwell in her, through Jesus, because she was open to God’s presence from the earliest years of her life. She is the prime example of the group that Jesus refers to in today’s gospel reading as those ‘who do the will of my Father in heaven’.
Today’s feast celebrates the fact that from her childhood Mary did the will of God, and was therefore ready to become the temple of God’s Son at the time of God’s choosing. We too are called to do the will of the Father in heaven so that we too can become temples of the Lord, people who carry the Lord’s presence to others, as Mary did. Writing to the church in Corinth, Paul says to each member, ‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?’ (1 Cor 6:19). We ask Mary to pray for us now so that we may always do the will of the Father and so become temples of God as she was.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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