Readings for 21 December

Song of Songs

Hark! my lover–here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices.
My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
"For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
"O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely."

Psalms

Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
The design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
In his holy name we trust.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

St. Peter Canisius(Priest and Doctor of the Church (1521-1597))

SAINT PETER CANISIUS Priest and Doctor of the Church (1521-1597) St. Peter Canisius was born in 1521, in Nijmegen, Holland. He entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained in 1546. He later founded a Jesuit house in Cologne. Peter was a vigorous defender of Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation. He published an influential catechism and showed how heresy turns the mood against the mind (Chesterton). Peter passed away in 1597. The miracles proceeding from his intercession show that he attained the beatific vision. He sees God face to face and intercedes with perfect faith.

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