Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection November 30, 2025
Sunday – First Sunday of Advent
30th November 2025 (Sunday)
Psalter: Proper
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Isaiah 2: 1-5
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R/. We shall go rejoicing to the house of the Lord
Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14
Brethren: Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Sunday – First Sunday of Advent
Main Point: The Lord’s coming is not meant to frighten us but to rouse us; not to make us calculate dates but to convert hearts; not to keep us guessing about “when” but to keep us faithful in the “now”.
1. With the First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. The Church does not begin with celebrations but with vigilance; not with noise but with an alarm. Advent is like a spiritual morning bell: it rings in our hearts, “It is time to wake up; the Lord is near!”
2. The prophet Isaiah gives us a beautiful vision: all nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord, seeking His ways and walking in His paths. Swords are beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks. Instruments of destruction become tools of cultivation. This is God’s dream for humanity: from war to peace, from harm to healing, from darkness to light.
3. But this dream does not realise itself magically. It calls for a concrete response: “Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Walking in the light means allowing God to teach us His ways, letting His word shape our decisions, and letting His peace flow through our relationships. It is not merely admiring the vision but moving toward it.
4. The second reading makes the call even more urgent: “You know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep.” Sleep here is not physical but spiritual: indifference, routine, compromise, and delay. Many live in a constant “later”: later I will pray, later I will forgive, later I will change. But Advent says: not later – now.
5. St Paul contrasts “works of darkness” with “armour of light”. Works of darkness include not only big scandals but all that is hidden, double, and dishonest: secret sins, grudges, jealousies, impurity, laziness, and quarrels. The armour of light is the transparent life of one who has “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”. A Christian is not one who plays with darkness and light, but one who decisively turns his back on darkness.
6. The gospel further sharpens this sense of urgency. Jesus recalls the days of Noah: people were eating, drinking, marrying, and carrying on as usual, not noticing anything until the flood came and swept them all away. The problem was not that they ate and drank, but that they lived without reference to God, without awareness of His time and His call.
7. This is the real danger today as well: not open rebellion but quiet forgetfulness; not declared hatred of God but practical indifference. Life goes on – studies, work, business, entertainment, messages, posts – and all the while the Lord knocks and finds many hearts too busy or too sleepy to notice. The “flood” today is not water but worldliness that slowly drowns the soul.
8. Jesus says, “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” To be ready is not to live in fear but in faithfulness. It is not to stand looking at the sky but to be responsible on the ground. It is to live each day as if it were our first day in grace, our best day in love, and our last day in this world.
9. Advent readiness has three dimensions: watchfulness, cleanliness, and Christ-likeness. Watchfulness: a heart that listens, discerns, and stays awake to God’s movements. Cleanliness: casting off the works of darkness, rejecting what pollutes the soul, be it impurity, dishonesty, bitterness, or division. Christ-likeness: putting on the Lord Jesus – His humility, His meekness, His mercy, His obedience.
10. Many times, we prepare attentively for guests, festivals, and events: we clean the house, decorate, cook, and make arrangements. But the coming of the Lord finds our inner house dusty and cluttered. Our mind is filled with worries, our heart with wounds, our soul with stains, our relationships with coldness. Advent invites us to interior housekeeping.
11. Also, the Lord’s coming is not only at the end of time or at the hour of death. He comes daily in His word, in the sacraments, in the poor and needy, in the duties of our state of life. If we fail to recognise Him in these “small comings”, we will not be ready for the great coming. The one who is faithful in ordinary days is not frightened by the last day.
12. Let us examine: Am I spiritually awake or drowsy? Am I walking in the light or playing along the border of darkness? Do I “put on Christ” deliberately each day, or do I wear only the garments of the world: comparison, resentment, pride, and self-indulgence? Is Advent for me only an external preparation for Christmas, or a genuine inner pilgrimage from sleep to vigilance, from self to God?
My Practice: The night is far gone and the day is at hand; let us rise from our spiritual sleep, cast off the garments of darkness, and put on the Lord Jesus, so that when He comes, He may find us not unprepared and ashamed, but awake, eager, and walking in His light.
