First Reading
Mass During
the Night (Isaiah 9:1-6)
Mass at
Dawn (Isaiah: 62:11-12)
1. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The “glory of the Lord”
was showing around the shepherds and the wise men followed the star. Doesn’t the whole
world need “the true light, which enlightens everyone”? What makes Christ the true
light? Would you consider wars, the climate crisis, and social injustice “darkness” in the
world right now, that needs the “true light”? How can you spread the light in your part of
the world?
2. “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent.” Do you know people like Archbishop Romero,
Rutilio Grande and John Lewis, who did not keep silent about Christ’s justice and truth?
Who are the people in your world today who do not “keep silent”? Are you unable to
keep silent with your works/actions as well as with words?
Second Reading
Mass During
the Day (Hebrews 1:1-6)
Christmas
Mass at Dawn (Titus 3:4-7)
1. “In time past, God spoke in partial and various ways.” When Jesus came, God spoke directly to us. Does he still speak to us today through the Holy Spirit, “whom he richly poured out on us”? Does he/she speak to you in homilies, books, the poor people, friends, in prayer, in joy, in sorrow, in beauty, in love? Everywhere?
2. “ … not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy. … ” Why did the Father send his Son to be with us? Could it be that the Father loved us so much he had to send his Son to be with us, and that, in showing us how much he loved us, we would be motivated to return his love?
Gospel
Mass
During the the Day (John 1:1-18)
1. “In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God. … He was in the world.” What is John saying about the Christ, creation, and the book of Genesis? Was Christ’s salvific mission universal for all people and all creation?
2. What are the three things Pope Francis says Jesus teaches us by lying in a feeding trough after he was born?
Jesus we behold you lying in the manger. We see you as close, ever at our side: thank you Lord! We see you as poor, in order to teach us that true wealth does not reside in things but in persons, and above all in the poor: forgive us, if we have failed to acknowledge and serve you in them. We see you as concrete, because your love for us is palpable. Jesus, help us to give flesh and life to our faith. Amen.
Three things we learn when we see Jesus in the manger
Pope Francis, Midnight Mass, 2020
