Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” November-December 2023

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (feast) (B)
proper

FIRST READING

From the Book of Genesis (Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3)
In those days, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Abram replied: “Lord God, what can you give me? I am going childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.” Abram continued: “Look, you have given me no offspring, and a servant of my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your heir will be one who comes from your own body.” He then brought him outside and said: “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them.” Then he added: “So shall your descendants be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time God had appointed. Abraham named his son who was born to him and whom Sarah bore him Isaac. – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

Abraham is a hundred years old, the age at which a man can barely stand and struggles to do everything. His wife, ninety years old, is no better off. Yet God had foretold that he would have many descendants, but those words now seem to have passed their time, because at ninety a woman can no longer become pregnant. So had Abraham misunderstood? Or worse, had God first given him false hope and then deceived him? The facts seem to say so and, as the saying goes, “against facts, there is no arguing”; the promise cannot be fulfilled. And now God seems to make things even worse: he leads him outside and shows him the starry sky, continuing to promise him an unbelievable future. But, at the crucial moment, instead of becoming discouraged or withdrawing into yet another bitter disappointment, Abraham takes the leap of faith: he takes the risk and believes. In those two simple words lies all of Abraham’s greatness: “He believed.” He believed the unbelievable and considered the impossible possible. We know that our God is the God of the impossible, because “nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk 1:37). Precisely when everything seems dark, our “I believe, Lord” tears through the darkness.

SECOND READING

From the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:8, 11-12, 17-19)
Brothers and sisters, by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith, Sarah herself, though beyond the age, received the power to conceive, because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. Therefore, from one man, and moreover one as good as dead, were born descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it had been said: “Through Isaac descendants shall be named for you.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead; for this reason he received him back also as a symbol. – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Abraham’s life is an assault on reason for the triumph of faith. God asks everything of him and he, not without struggle, believes everything. This extraordinary patriarch and founder of the people of Israel is never praised in the Bible for his organizational abilities, nor even for his moral qualities, but always and solely for his faith, which is rock-solid, absolute, and heroic. Is it God who speaks? If the answer is “yes,” then I believe and act. There is no mediation in Abraham: his faith is blind, vertical, and immediate. And he had many children and numerous descendants. Let us then think about the legacy we will leave to our children and grandchildren, our will. What will we give them? A house, some money we have saved in the bank? Some material possessions? All these things pass away and are consumed over time. If instead we leave them the memory of our faith, we will have given them the most precious inheritance. We still remember Abraham’s faith today, and nearly four thousand years have passed. A fine inheritance, don’t you think? For how many centuries will our faith be remembered?

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 2:22-40)
When the days were completed for their ritual purification, according to the law of Moses, [Maria and Giuseppe] brought the child [Gesù] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – as it is written in the law of the Lord: “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord” – and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, as prescribed in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him the customary practice according to the law, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted – and you yourself a sword will pierce – so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

In today’s passage, the figures of the old Simeon, an unknown man who after his prophecy immediately returns to the shadows, and Anna, a charismatic prophetess, seem to dominate; in reality, the role of the Holy Family of Nazareth is being revealed. It is Mary and Joseph who bring the child to the temple; they are the ones who present him to the priest; they are the ones who listen in amazement to Simeon’s words; they are the ones who, at the end, take the child to Nazareth and raise him in peace and family serenity until he is thirty years old. God entered the world, but not as a solitary hero who does everything alone; from the very beginning he lives in a family, which is therefore immediately sanctified by his presence. Jesus is never without Mary and Joseph. Even today we know well that the merits of redemption belong to Christ, but he always seems to act and refer to his family. At Fatima, during the final apparition, the three children see Joseph in heaven, seated with Jesus on his knees, and Mary Most Holy standing beside them. And it is Joseph who blesses humanity together with the child Jesus. The blessing comes to us from the reunited Holy Family.