Advent Readings
Welcome to these pages, in which we will reflect on the wonderful collection of Bible readings which we read in the season of Advent. It will come as no surprise, given the Advent theme of the fulfilment of prophecy, that there are many readings from the Hebrew prophets. The Book of Isaiah, with its three sections (1-39, 40-55, and 56-66), features frequently, but several other prophets appear, as well as significant readings from other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, and related biblical writings. Some of the prophetic readings may be clearly described as ‘messianic’ since they allude to the coming saviour, but others look to the future in less precise terms.
The responsorial psalms will often echo the themes of the first reading. Their full text is not given here, but care has been taken to ensure that the place of the psalms in the Liturgy of the Word is not disregarded.
The gospel readings in the early days of Advent are chosen to match the first readings from the Hebrew scriptures, and then we have a series of gospels which mention the precursor, John the Baptist. These begin on the Thursday of the second week of Advent and are brought to a close on the Friday of the third week, or on 16th December.
The more intense period of preparation is from 17th December to the morning Mass on 24th December. Advent varies in its length, for Christmas Day may fall on any day (Monday to Sunday) after the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The days omitted will always be those final days of the preparatory period which ends with 16th December.
In the final days of Advent gospel readings from Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 1 are read, so that the stories of events before the birth of Christ and concerning the birth of John the Baptist are presented.
A further important feature is the ‘O’ antiphons, read from 17th to 23rd December. These Magnificat antiphons for Evening Prayer, are also used in the Alleluia verses before the gospel of the day. They are given here in their full form, with a brief commentary.
Our Bible translation is the Revised New Jerusalem Bible, edited by Dom Henry Wansbrough, and published by Darton, Longman and Todd in 2019. A commentary by Fr Adrian Graffy accompanies each reading.