Sunday, January 5, 2025
Liturgical Season: 
II The Season of Yaldo-Denho
Special Significance: 
II Sunday after Yaldo

Lk 3:7-14

7He said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?g 8Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.h 9Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”i

10And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”j 13He answered them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” He told them, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

Gn 37:1-4

Joseph Sold into Egypt. 1Jacob settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.* 2This is the story of the family of Jacob.* When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flocks with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and Joseph brought their father bad reports about them. 3Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long ornamented tunic.* 4When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him.

1 Sm 2:18-21

The Lord Rewards Hannah. 18Meanwhile the boy Samuel, wearing a linen ephod,* was serving in the presence of the LORD. 19His mother used to make a little garment for him, which she would bring him each time she went up with her husband to offer the customary sacrifice. 20And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, as they were leaving for home. He would say, “May the LORD repay you with children from this woman for the gift she has made to the LORD!” 21The LORD favored Hannah so that she conceived and gave birth to three more sons and two daughters, while young Samuel grew up in the service of the LORD.k

Ps 45:1-17

1For the leader; according to “Lilies.” A maskil of the Korahites. A love song.

2My heart is stirred by a noble theme,

as I sing my ode to the king.

My tongue is the pen of a nimble scribe.

3You are the most handsome of men;

fair speech has graced your lips,

for God has blessed you forever.a

4Gird your sword upon your hip, mighty warrior!

In splendor and majesty ride on triumphant!b

5In the cause of truth, meekness, and justice

may your right hand show your wondrous deeds.

6Your arrows are sharp;

peoples will cower at your feet;

the king’s enemies will lose heart.

7Your throne, O God,* stands forever;c

your royal scepter is a scepter for justice.

8You love justice and hate wrongdoing;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.

9With myrrh, aloes, and cassia

your robes are fragrant.

From ivory-paneled palaces*

stringed instruments bring you joy.

10Daughters of kings are your lovely wives;

a princess arrayed in Ophir’s gold*

comes to stand at your right hand.

11Listen, my daughter, and understand;

pay me careful heed.

Forget your people and your father’s house,*

12that the king might desire your beauty.

He is your lord;

13dhonor him, daughter of Tyre.

Then the richest of the people

will seek your favor with gifts.

14All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters,e

her raiment threaded with gold;

15In embroidered apparel she is led to the king.

The maids of her train are presented to the king.

16They are led in with glad and joyous acclaim;

they enter the palace of the king.

17The throne of your fathers your sons will have;

you shall make them princes through all the land.f

Is 40:25-31

25To whom can you liken me as an equal?

says the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes on high

and see who created* these:

He leads out their army and numbers them,

calling them all by name.

By his great might and the strength of his power

not one of them is missing!j

27Why, O Jacob, do you say,*

and declare, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

28Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is God from of old,

creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary,

and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

29He gives power to the faint,

abundant strength to the weak.

30Though young men faint and grow weary,

and youths stagger and fall,

31They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,

they will soar on eagles’ wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

1 Jn 3:19-24

Confidence Before God.* 19[Now] this is how we shall know that we* belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him 20in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 21Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God 22and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.n 23And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.o 24Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.p

Heb 11:23-31

23t By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24* By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;u 25he chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin. 26He considered the reproach of the Anointed greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the recompense. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s fury, for he persevered as if seeing the one who is invisible.v 28By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.w 29By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted it they were drowned.x 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after being encircled for seven days.y 31By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with the disobedient, for she had received the spies in peace.z

Jn 1:29-34

John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus. 29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,* who takes away the sin of the world.t 30* He is the one of whom I said,u ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ 31I did not know him,* but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove* from the sky and remain upon him. 33I did not know him,v but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’w 34* x Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”