Fourth Sunday of Advent

Reading I Mi 5:1-4a

   Thus says the LORD:
   You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
       too small to be among the clans of Judah,
   from you shall come forth for me
       one who is to be ruler in Israel;
   whose origin is from of old,
       from ancient times.
   Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
       when she who is to give birth has borne,
   and the rest of his kindred shall return
       to the children of Israel.
   He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
       by the strength of the LORD,
       in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
   and they shall remain, for now his greatness
       shall reach to the ends of the earth;
       he shall be peace.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19.

R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
   from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
   and come to save us.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
   look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
   and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
   with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
   give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Reading II Heb 10:5-10

Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came into the world, he said:
   “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
       but a body you prepared for me;
   in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
   Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
   behold, I come to do your will, O God.’“

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, :Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.