Gospel: December 1, 2025
December 1, 2025 (Monday)
1st Week of Advent
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9
Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
1st Reading: Isaiah 4:2-6
On that day the Shoot of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel. Those who are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem, when the Lord washes away the filth of the women of Zion and purges Jerusalem of the bloodstains in its midst with the blast of searing judgment, the blast of fire. Then will the Lord create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of fire by night. For the glory of the Lord will be a canopy and a pavilion for all, a shade from the scorching heat by day, a refuge from the storm and rain.
Gospel: Matthew 8:5-11
When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached him, to ask his help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralyzed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished; and said to those who were following him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.
Reflection:
“Whoever takes Communion creates a home.”
Recent surveys have indicated a significant decrease in belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Yet, such a belief has been part of our Catholic faith from the very beginning. The Eucharist is no mere symbol, but the living presence of Jesus, given to communicate and accomplish an intimate union with us, a communion with him and with his Church. And so, when we come into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, we bow, genuflect and kneel in recognition of his majesty and our lowliness. Just as the Roman centurion says to Jesus, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof,” so, in awe and wonder, we acknowledge our unworthiness to be in the Lord’s presence and to receive him in Holy Communion. Yet, our frailty and our need for his sustaining presence are the very reasons why Christ chose to give himself to us in the Eucharist in the first place. We are not worthy, but Jesus wants to dwell with us, to make his home with us. Blessed Carlo Acutis sums this up when he wrote, “Whoever takes Communion creates a home. A home together. Together under the same roof” with Christ.
