Gospel for the Day with Pointers

After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, suddenly some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east asking, ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was

The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It was of him that I said, “Behind me comes one who has passed ahead of me because he existed before me.” I did not know him myself, and yet

This was how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He declared, he did not deny but declared, ‘I am not the Christ.’  So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in the desert:

The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds said to them.  As for Mary, she treasured all these things and

In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone; he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had come into being through him, and the world did not recognise him. He came to

There was a prophetess, too, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting