DECEMBER 21

First reading: Isaiah 7:10-16

 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign of the LORD  your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But  Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the  test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it  too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God  also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look,  the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall  name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the  time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 

For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose  the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread  will be deserted.

Second reading: Matthew 1:18-25  

 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but  before they lived together, she was found to be with child  from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous  man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned  to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this,  an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,  ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your  wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She  will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save  his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him

Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until  she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.