📖 Daily Gospel Reading – December 12, 2025

Friday • Second Week of Advent

🌅 FIRST READING

Isaiah 48:17–19

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I, the Lord your God, teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.

If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;

Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.

🎶 RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Psalm 1:1–2, 3, 4, 6

Response: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the Lord
and meditates on His law day and night.
R: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

He is like a tree planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
R: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

For the Lord watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

✝️ GOSPEL

Matthew 11:16–19

Jesus said to the crowds:

“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, but you did not mourn.’”

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they said, ‘Look, He is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”

“But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

✨ REFLECTION — “Do You Recognize God When He Comes?”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gently but firmly calls out a spiritual blindness in His generation—
and in ours.

People criticized John the Baptist for being too extreme.
People criticized Jesus for being too merciful.

John fasted — they complained.
Jesus feasted — they complained.

The message is clear:
A heart that does not want to change will always find an excuse.

1️⃣ God speaks… but do we listen?

Jesus compares the generation to children who refuse to respond:

  • A joyful flute was played — no dancing.

  • A sad song was sung — no mourning.

Meaning:
God reached out in every possible way,
yet many hearts stayed unmoved.

Today God still speaks:

  • through Scripture

  • through people

  • through events

  • through silence

  • through blessings

  • through difficulties

The question is not:
“Is God speaking?”
The real question is:
“Am I listening?”

**2️⃣ Many rejected John because he was too strict…

and rejected Jesus because He was too kind.**

This reveals something deep:

The problem was not the messenger.
The problem was the heart of the listener.

John preached repentance.
Jesus preached mercy.

Some rejected both.

Why?

Because true conversion is uncomfortable.
Light exposes darkness.
Truth challenges pride.

Advent invites us to say:
“Lord, soften my heart. Make me receptive.”

3️⃣ “Wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

Jesus means:
God’s actions prove who He is.

Look at the fruit:

  • lives changed

  • hearts healed

  • sinners restored

  • the poor lifted

  • hope awakened

These are the works that reveal God’s wisdom and love.

If you want to know whether God is moving in your life,
look at the fruit growing in your heart:

  • patience

  • forgiveness

  • humility

  • compassion

  • faith

  • obedience

These are the signs that the Kingdom is alive in you.

🙏 CLOSING PRAYER

Father, open my heart to hear Your voice.
Remove the hardness that keeps me from recognizing You.
Help me respond to Your invitations with humility and love.
Teach me Your wisdom,
and let my life bear fruit that glorifies You.
Amen.