Friday 24 December

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16;

Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29; Luke 1:67-79

Prophetic praise

On Sundays the first reading at Holy Mass almost always previews the Gospel for the day. The Benedictus, today’s Gospel reading, is an example of this foreshadowing and fulfilment. Zechariah proclaims God’s saving acts from Abraham’s time down to his own day. He predicts that those saving actions will be fulfilled in the ministries of John and Jesus. They are the light from on high that illuminates all that had gone before.