Gospel of 11 December 2018

Book of Isaiah 40,1-11.
“Console, console my people, says your God.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and shout to her that her slavery is over, her iniquity has been taken for granted, because she has received double punishment from the hand of the Lord for all her sins ”.
A voice cries out: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord, smooth out the road for our God in the steppe.
Every valley is filled, every mountain and hill are lowered; the rough terrain turns flat and the steep terrain flat.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and every man will see it, since the mouth of the Lord has spoken. "
A voice says, "Shout" and I say, "What am I going to shout?" Every man is like grass and all his glory is like a flower of the field.
When the grass is dry, the flower withers when the breath of the Lord blows on them.
The grass dries up, the flower withers, but the word of our God always lasts. Truly the people are like grass.
Climb a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; raise your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Raise your voice, don't be afraid; announces to the cities of Judah: “Behold your God!
Behold, the Lord God comes with power, with his arm he holds dominion. Here, he has the prize with him and his trophies precede it.
Like a shepherd he grazes the flock and gathers it with his arm; she carries the lambs on her breast and slowly leads the mother sheep ”.

Salmi 96(95),1-2.3.10ac.11-12.13.
Sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord from all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name,
proclaim his salvation day by day.

In the midst of peoples tell your glory,
to all nations tell your wonders.
Say among the peoples: "The Lord reigns!",
judge nations righteously.

Let the heavens rejoice, the earth rejoice,
the sea and what it encloses tremble;
rejoice the fields and what they contain,
let the trees of the forest rejoice.

Rejoice before the Lord who comes,
because he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and truthfully all peoples.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew 18,12-14.
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: «What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and loses one, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains to go in search of the lost one?
If he can find it, in truth I tell you, he will rejoice in that more than in the ninety-nine that had not gone astray.
Thus your heavenly Father does not want to lose even one of these little ones ».