First Sunday after Christmas – Year A

December 28, 2025

Gospel Lectionary Text

Matthew 2:13-23
2:13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."

2:14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,

2:15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

2:16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.

2:17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

2:18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

2:19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,

2:20 "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."

2:21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.

2:23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."

Context

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Question

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Reflections

Hope in the Darkness

Each year the season of Christmas gets me excited. Even as the days get colder and darker the warm feelings of Christmas and all the wonder the holidays bring propels me into preparations for celebration. My two small children, just old enough to grasp the meaning of this season, have joined in on the traditions.

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Born in Dreams

The Advent and Christmas seasons are a time to remember God’s call on our lives is constant, and it comes in many forms, whether we are sleeping or awake. It's a call to a heavenly perspective that allows us to release our fears and see good news in the least likely places.

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Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:

Coming soon.

Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.

Poetry

How the Light Comes
by Jan Richardson

I cannot tell you how the light comes.
What I know is that it is more ancient
than imagining.
That it travels across an astounding expanse
to reach us.
That it loves searching out
what is hidden
what is lost
what is forgotten
or in peril
or in pain.

That it has a fondness for the body
for finding its way toward flesh
for tracing the edges of form
for shining forth through the eye,
the hand, the heart.

I cannot tell you how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works its way into the deepest dark
that enfolds you,
though it may seem long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape you did not foresee.
And so,
may we this day turn ourselves toward it.
May we lift our faces to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies to follow the arc it makes.
May we open and open more and open still
to the blessed light
that comes.

  

Prayer

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