First Reading

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

1Behold, I send my angel, and he will prepare the way before my face. And presently the Sovereign, whom you seek, and the angel of testimony, whom you desire, will arrive at his temple. Behold, he approaches, says the Lord of hosts. 2And who will be able to consider the day of his advent, and who will stand firm in order to see him? For he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller’s herb. 3And he will sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he will purge the sons of Levi, and he will gather them like gold and like silver, and they will offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice. 4And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem will please the Lord, just as in the days of past generations, and as in the ancient years. 5And I will approach you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evil-doers, and adulterers, and perjurers, and those who cheat the hired hand in his wages, the widows and the orphans, and who oppress the traveler, and who have not feared me, says the Lord of hosts. 6For I am the Lord, and I do not change. And you, the sons of Jacob, have not been consumed. 7For, from the days of your fathers, you have withdrawn from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. And you have said, “In what way, shall we return?” 8If a man will afflict God, then you greatly afflict me. And you have said, “In what way, do we afflict you?” In tithes and in first-fruits. 9And you have been cursed with privation, and you greatly afflict me, even your entire people. 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, and let there be food in my house. And test me about this, says the Lord, as to whether I will not open to you the floodgates of heaven, and pour out to you a blessing, all the way to abundance. 11And I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he will not corrupt the fruit of your land. Neither will the vine in the field be barren, says the Lord of hosts. 12And all nations will call you blessed. For you will be a desirable land, says the Lord of hosts. 13Your words have gathered strength over me, says the Lord. 14And you have said, “What have we spoken against you?” You have said, “He labors in vain who serves God,” and, “What advantage is it that we have kept his precepts, and that we have walked sorrowfully in the sight of the Lord of hosts?” 15Now, therefore, we call the arrogant blessed, as if those who work impiety have been built up, and as if they have tempted God and been saved. 16Then those who fear the Lord spoke, each one with his neighbor. And the Lord paid attention and heeded. And a book of remembrance was written in his sight, for those who fear the Lord and for those who consider his name. 17And they will be my special possession, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I act. And I will spare them, just as a man spares his son who serves him. 18And you shall be converted, and you will see the difference between the just and the impious, and between those who serve God and those who do not serve him.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 24

4May all those who act unjustly over nothing be confounded. O Lord, demonstrate your ways to me, and teach me your paths. 5Direct me in your truth, and teach me. For you are God, my Savior, and I remain with you all day long. 6O Lord, remember your compassion and your mercies, which are from ages past. 7Do not remember the offenses of my youth and my ignorances. Remember me according to your mercy, because of your goodness, O Lord. 8The Lord is sweet and righteous. Because of this, he will grant a law to those who fall short in the way. 9He will direct the mild in judgment. He will teach the meek his ways. 10All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to those who yearn for his covenant and his testimonies. 11Because of your name, O Lord, you will pardon my sin, for it is great. 12Which is the man who fears the Lord? He has established a law for him, on the way that he has chosen. 13His soul will dwell upon good things, and his offspring will inherit the earth. 14The Lord is a firmament to those who fear him, and his covenant will be made manifest to them.

Gospel

Luke 1:57-66

57Now the time for Elizabeth to give birth arrived, and she brought forth a son. 58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and so they congratulated her. 59And it happened that, on the eighth day, they arrived to circumcise the boy, and they called him by his father’s name, Zechariah. 60And in response, his mother said: “Not so. Instead, he shall be called John.” 61And they said to her, “But there is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” 62Then they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him to be called. 63And requesting a writing tablet, he wrote, saying: “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64Then, at once, his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosened, and he spoke, blessing God. 65And fear fell upon all of their neighbors. And all these words were made known throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66And all those who heard it stored it up in their heart, saying: “What do you think this boy will be?” And indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.