December 19

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Judges 13.2-7, 24-25a

There was a certain man of Zorah,
of the family of the Danites,
whose name was Manoah,
and his wife was barren, and did not bear children.
The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman,
and said to her, “See now, you are barren, and do not bear,
but you shall conceive, and bear a son.
Now therefore please beware,
and drink no wine or strong drink,
and do not eat any unclean thing,
for, behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son,
and no razor shall come on his head,
for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb,
and he shall begin to save Israel
out of the hand of the Philistines.”
Then the woman went and told her husband,
saying, “A man of God came to me,
and his face was like
the face of the angel of God, very awesome.
I did not ask him where he was from,
nor did he tell me his name,
but he said to me,
‘Behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son,
and now drink no wine or strong drink,
and do not eat any unclean thing;
for the child shall be a Nazarite to God
from the womb to the day of his death.’”
The woman bore a son, and named him Samson,
and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
The Spirit of the Lord began to move him.

Responsorial – Psalm 71.3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17 Resp. 8, 23

R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise; my soul sings praises to you.

Be to me a rock of refuge.
Give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise; my soul sings praises to you.

For you are my hope, O the Lord,
my confidence from my youth.
I have relied on you from the womb.
You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb.

R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise; my soul sings praises to you.

I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord.
I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.
God, you have taught me from my youth.
Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.

R. My mouth shall be filled with your praise; my soul sings praises to you.

Gospel – Luke 1.5-25

There was in the days
of Herod, the king of Judea,
a certain priest named Zachariah,
of the priestly division of Abijah.
He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
They were both righteous before God,
walking blamelessly in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren,
and they both were well advanced in years.
Now it happened, while he fulfilled the priestly office
before God according to his division,
according to the custom of the priestly office,
it was his lot
to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
The whole multitude of the people
were praying outside at the hour of incense.
An angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Zachariah was troubled when he saw him,
and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah,
because your request has been heard.
Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son,
and you shall name him John.
You will have joy and gladness;
and many will rejoice at his birth.
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
He will drink no wine nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother’s womb.
He will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord, their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah,
‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,’
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;
to prepare a people ready for the Lord.”

Zachariah said to the angel,
“How can I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
The angel answered him,
“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God.
I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak,
until the day that these things will happen,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

The people were waiting for Zachariah,
and they wondered why he was delayed in the temple.
When he came out, he could not speak to them,
and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple.
He continued making signs to them, and remained mute.

It happened, when the days of his service were fulfilled,
he departed to his house.
After these days Elizabeth, his wife, conceived,
and she hid herself five months, saying,
“Thus has the Lord done to me
in the days in which he looked at me,
to take away my reproach among humans.”