First Reading
Mass at Midnight: Isaiah 9:1-6
Mass at Dawn: Isaiah 62:11-12

1. Isaiah says this in the First Reading: “For a child is born to us, a son is given us. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” Would you expect to see someone named God-Hero born in a stable? Who would be the most likely candidate to be born in a stable, the child of a president, a homeless person’s child or the child of a soldier? Who is actually born in stable-like places today?

2. The reading says, “They shall be called a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you shall be called, ‘Frequented,’ a city that is not forsaken.” Why will they be called holy? Is God with them constantly? What is it that Emmanuel (= “God with us”) does for all people? What for you?

Second Reading
Mass During the Day Hebrews 1:1-6

1. “In time past, God spoke in partial and various ways.” What are some of the various ways God speaks to you? Do you look for God in the lowly/painful events of your life as well as the great ones?

2. What does St. Paul mean when he says that the Son is the very “imprint of the Father’s being”? What would a person look (be, act) like if he or she were the imprint of Christ?

Gospel
Mass at Midnight: Luke 2:1-14
Mass During the Day: John 1:1-18

1. God’s relationship with humans rises to the topmost level with the arrival of Christ. But he lives with constant rejection and loves the humble and the poor of the world. What does this say to you about God? If you want to find God today where might you start looking?

2. On Christmas day the Gospel says, “In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God… The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world came to be through him.” What is John saying about Christ and creation? Do you catch the connection to the beginning of the book of Genesis? Explain.