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An Extended Celebration of the Incarnation
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Readings for Daily Masses During the Season of Christmas
Madonna and child, Tenderness - Patricia Brintle (used with permission)
To the Church, Christmas is not just a day. It is a season beginning, not ending, on Christmas Eve. It ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Although the Christmas season is among the shortest seasons of the year, it has several important solemnities and feasts that do not always fall on Sundays. Please check out our other lectionary guide to the Sundays and Solemnities of the Christmas season.
For the remaining weekdays of the season—except for December 26 and 27—the gospel readings are from relatively early portions of all four gospels. The gospel readings of the season are divided into three sections, with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1) dividing the first section from the second, and the Solemnity of the Epiphany (the Sunday after January 1) dividing the second from the third. The first readings on the remaining weekdays—with the exception of December 26—are taken from First Letter of John.To jump to specific readings during specific sections of the season, please use the links below:
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Gospel Readings for the Octave of Christmas
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December 26 & 27: Stephen & John
Unless either of them is on a Sunday, December 26 & 27 are respectively celebrated as the feasts of St. Stephen and St. John the Evangelist. These two feasts have proper readings that have superceded what we would expect to hear during the octave of Christmas. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Therefore, the readings on December 26 are a portion of the story of Stephen (Acts 6:8 - 10; 7:54 - 59) and Jesus' prediction of upcoming persecutions for his disciples (Matthew 10:17 - 22). The gospel passage on December 27 is John 20:1 - 8, in which Peter and the beloved disciple—presumed to be John—run to the empty tomb on Easter Sunday.
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The Stoning of Saint Stephen - Rembrandt van Rijn
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St. Joseph and the Christ Child - artist unknown
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December 28 - January 1: The Infancy of Jesus
The rest of the days of the calendar year feature gospel passages from the days of Jesus' infancy. If any of these days is on a Sunday (or if December 30 is on a Friday), these readings are suppressed in favor of the Feast of the Holy Family.
December 28 — Matthew 2:13 - 18 (Feast of the Holy Innocents)
December 29 — Luke 2:22 - 35
December 30 — Luke 2:36 - 40
December 31 — John 1:1 - 18January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which also features a gospel passage from Jesus' infancy (Luke 2:16 - 21). For more details on the Feast of the Holy Family and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, please consult this other page.
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Gospel Readings Between January 1 & Epiphany
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Jesus Near the Time of His Baptism
In most of the world, Epiphany is celebrated on January 6, but in the United States, it is transferred to the Sunday after January 1. The gospels for these intervening days are from Jesus' early adulthood, but before he begins his preaching ministry in earnest. The readings from Mark and Luke are from before Jesus' baptism; the baptism is not recorded in John, although it is acknowledged as already having happened in 1:32.
January 2 — John 1:19 - 28
January 3 — John 1:29 - 34
January 4 — John 1:35 - 42
January 5 — John 1:43 - 51
January 6 — Mark 1:1 - 8 OR Luke 3:23 - 38
January 7 — John 2:1 - 11In 2023, Epiphany is celebrated in the United States on Sunday, January 8.
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Gospel Readings Between Epiphany & the Baptism of the Lord
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Light and Truth - Simon Dewey
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Jesus' Early Public Ministry
In the days between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord, we hear stories of Jesus' early preaching and miracles. The readings on the six days after Epiphany are:
Monday — Matthew 4:12 - 17, 23 - 25
Tuesday — Mark 6:34 - 44
Wednesday — Mark 6:45 - 52
Thursday — Luke 4:14 - 22a
Friday — Luke 5:12 - 16
Saturday — John 3:22 - 30
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1 John: Incarnational Spirituality
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The Holy Family - Janet McKenzie
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In all of the 2-year daily lectionary cycle and the 3-year Sunday lectionary cycle, we hear the entirety of only one book of the Bible: 1 John. Starting on December 27 and ending on the Saturday after Epiphany, we methodically work our way through every verse of 1 John at daily Masses, although in any given year, at least one passage will be suppressed because of a feast or solemnity taking precedence. We also hear selections from 1 John on the Sundays of Easter in Year B.
Since the Christmas season is an extended celebration of the Incarnation, it is appropriate that the first readings come from 1 John. In rhapsodically repetitious prose, 1 John confronts a heresy that denies Jesus’ humanity. 1 John argues for a very incarnational, or embodied, spirituality. As 1 John explains to us at the outset, it is our experiences lived through our bodies and senses that we have come to know Jesus, the Word of life:
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Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.(1 John 1:1 - 4)
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The Holy Family - Eva Campbell
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It is through these same bodies, especially by expressing love for one another, that we work out our salvation. As 1 John 4—always used as the gospel acclamation for weddings—says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God.”
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The Holy Family - Michael Moyers
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Five of the 27 books of the New Testament are associated with the Apostle John: the Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation. The books share a similar writing style and similar themes. However, the majority of contemporary biblical scholars believe that while John probably influenced the authors of these five books, he was not likely the primary author of any of these books. Instead, these books were more likely written by "the Johannine community," a group of John's disciples who most likely gathered in Ephesus in Asia Minor. 1 John shares the most similarities with the Gospel of John. For example, compare the last line of the quotation above with Jesus' instructions at the Last Supper about the vine and the branches: "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete" (John 15:11).
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The response to the first reading during the daily Masses of Christmas is always from the Book of Psalms.
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