Thursday of the 2nd Week of Advent

• St. Damasus I Pope (38th) from 366 to 384
• St. María Maravillas de Jesús O.C.D. nun (1891-1974)
• Saint of the Day

First Reading

I am your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

From the book of the prophet Isaiah
Is 41:13-20                                                                                                                                                                                   

For I am the Lord, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
it is I who say to you: «Do not fear, I will help you».
Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you larva Israel;
I will help you – oracle of the Lord –
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Behold, I will make you a sharp threshing-sledge, new,
with many points;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You shall winnow them and the wind will carry them away,
and the whirlwind will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
and boast in the Holy One of Israel.
The wretched and the poor seek water, but there is none;
their tongue is parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them,
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on the barren heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will change the desert into a pool of water,
and the dry land into springs of water.
I will plant cedars in the desert,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees;
in the steppe I will set cypress trees,
elms, and fir trees;
that they may see and know,
consider and understand together
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Word of God.

Responsorial Psalm

From Psalm 144 (145)

R. The Lord is gracious and great in love.

I will extol you, my God and king,
and bless your name forever and ever.
The Lord is good to all,
his tenderness is over all his creatures. R.
 
Let all your works praise you, Lord,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power. R.
 
Let them make known to all people your mighty deeds
and the splendid glory of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,
your dominion endures through all generations. R.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia.

Drop down, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds pour down the Just One;
let the earth open up
and sprout the Savior. (Cf. Is 45:8)

Alleluia.

The Gospel of the day December 11, 2025

No one greater than John the Baptist has arisen among those born of women.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 11:11-15
 
At that time, Jesus said to the crowds:
“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Word of the Lord.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315-367)

bishop, Doctor of the Church

Treatise on the Mysteries; SC 19 (transl. cb@evangelizo)

« The Law and all the Prophets prophesied until John »

Just as the master in the Gospel of Saint Luke makes three visits to the barren fig tree (Lk 13:6), so Holy Mother Church marks the Lord’s coming each year with a distinct period of three weeks. “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost” (Lk 19:10). He came before the Law, since he made known, through natural reason, what everyone should do or follow (Rom 1:20). He came under the Law, since, through the examples of the patriarchs and the voice of the prophets, he confirmed the decrees of the Law to the descendants of Abraham. He came a third time after the Law, through grace, to call the Gentiles, so that “from the rising of the sun to its setting the children might learn to praise the name of the Lord” (Ps 113:1-3), these children whom, until the end of the world, he ceases not to call to the praise of his glory. Indeed, everything contained in the sacred books announces with words, reveals with deeds, and demonstrates with examples the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord… Through true and clear prefigurations—Adam’s sleep, Noah’s flood, Abraham’s justification, Isaac’s birth, Joseph’s slavery—in the patriarchs, it is He who begets, cleanses, sanctifies, chooses, or redeems the Church. In a word, all the prophecies, that is, the progressive revelation of God’s secret plan, were given to us so that we might know his Incarnation that would be accomplished… Every figure, every era, every event projects, as in a mirror, the image of his coming, his preaching, his Passion, his resurrection, and our gathering in the Church… Starting with Adam, the point of departure for our knowledge of humankind, we find announced from the beginning of the world what receives its total fulfillment in the Lord.

THE WORDS OF THE POPES

This is John’s greatness, a great one, the last of that line of believers which began with Abraham, the one who preaches conversion, the one who does not use half-measures to condemn the proud, the one who allows himself to doubt at the end of his life. And this is a beautiful program for Christian life. (…) Let us ask John for the grace of apostolic courage to always speak things truthfully, of pastoral love, to welcome people with the little they can give, the first step. God will do the rest. May the great John, who is the least in the kingdom of Heaven, and is great for this reason, help us on this path in the footsteps of the Lord.” (Pope Francis – Homily Santa Marta, December 15, 2016)