Daily Mass Readings For Sunday, December 28, 2025 (Readings, Gospel, and Reflection)

Reading I

Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14

God sets a father in honor over his children;
   a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins,
   and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard;
   he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,
   and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;
   he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.

My son, take care of your father when he is old;
   grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
   revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
   firmly planted against the debt of your sins
   —a house raised in justice to you.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5.

R. (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
   who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
   in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
   around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
   who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
   may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
   all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Reading II

Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.

OR:

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Alleluia

Colossians 3:15a, 16a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled,
He shall be called a Nazorean.

Reflection

"When the Wise men tell Herod of one who is born a king, he is disturbed. To save his kingdom he resolves to kill him, though if he would have faith in the child, he himself would reign in peace in this life and for ever in the life to come" (Saint Quodvultdeus)

"How important it is that every child coming into the world be welcomed by the warmth of a family! External comforts do not matter: Jesus was born in a stable and had a manger as his first cradle, but the love of Mary and of Joseph made him feel the tenderness and beauty of being loved" (Benedict XVI)

"The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents make manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: ‘He came to his own home, and his own people received him not’ (Jn 1:11)" (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 530)

Saint of the Day

Sts. Innocents, Martyrs

The Holy Innocents are the children of Bethlehem, put to death by order of King Herod, as part of his efforts to eliminate the child Jesus, whom prophecies announced as the Messiah and new King of Israel. They have been honored as martyrs since the early centuries.