Today's Gospel December 18, 2020 with the words of Pope Francis

READING OF THE DAY
From the book of the prophet Geremìa
Jer 23,5-8

"Behold, days will come - oracle of the Lord -
in which I will raise a righteous shoot for David,
who will reign as a true king and be wise
and will exercise law and justice on earth.
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in peace,
and they will call it by this name:
Lord-our-justice.

Therefore, behold, the days will come - oracle of the Lord - in which we will no longer say: "By the life of the Lord who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt!", But rather: "By the life of the Lord who made go out and brought back the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the regions where he had scattered them! they will live in their own land. "

GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 1,18-24

This is how Jesus Christ was generated: his mother Mary, being betrothed to Joseph, before they went to live together she was found pregnant by the work of the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, since he was a just man and did not want to accuse her publicly, thought of divorcing her in secret.

But while he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your bride with you. In fact the child that is generated in her comes from the Holy Spirit; she will give birth to a son and you will call him Jesus: for he will save his people from their sins. "

All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
"Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son:
he will be given the name of Emmanuel ", which means" God with us ".

When he awoke from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his bride with him.

WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
He took on a fatherhood that was not his: it came from the Father. And he carried on fatherhood with what it means: not only supporting Mary and the child, but also raising the child, teaching him the trade, bringing him to the maturity of a man. "Take charge of the fatherhood that is not yours, it is God's". And this, without saying a word. In the Gospel there is no word spoken by Joseph. The man of silence, of silent obedience. (Santa Marta, December 18, 2017