Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
Like many prophets Zephaniah stresses the need for people to seek out the Lord, to heed his word and to become a humble people.

1 Corinthians 1: 26-31
God chose those who are deemed weak in the eyes of the world to be God’s own.

Matthew 5: 1-12
Jesus outlines those to whom the kingdom of God belongs, including those who are poor in spirit, the merciful, those who mourn and those who hunger and thirst for what is right.

Isaiah 8: 23-9:3
The prophet foresees the great day of liberation when the Lord will visit his people.

1 Corinthians 1: 10-13. 17
Paul reminds the Corinthians that the person of Christ and his sacrificial death and resurrection are the basis of their unity.

Matthew 4: 12-23
Jesus proclaims that the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in his own person, and he begins to gather the apostles about him.

Isaiah 60: 1-6
Israel will return from exile in Babylon and Jerusalem will be restored.  God’s presence in the new Jerusalem will radiate such a light that it will attract all nations through faith.

Ephesians 3: 2-3. 5-6

Paul announces the hidden mystery revealed to him through the Spirit: Jewish and non-Jewish people are no longer divided but united in the body of Christ.

Matthew 2: 1-12
Matthew recounts the quest of the wise men to find the infant king of the Jews and pay him homage.  It then compares their courage and faith as Gentiles with the fear and falsity of King Herod.

Isaiah 49: 3. 5-6
God’s servant is called to bring all people to God, to be “the light of all nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth”.

1 Corinthians 1: 1-3
Paul prays that the people of Corinth will experience the grace and peace of Christ, and be called into communion with one another and with Christ.

John 1: 29-34

John the Baptist saw the Spirit of God come down upon Jesus in the form of a dove and identities Jesus as “the Chosen One of God’ and ‘the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”.


Numbers 6: 22-27
The Lord promises his blessing on his chosen people.

Galatians 4: 4-7
Paul shows that we are sons and daughters and heirs, because we are adopted brothers and sisters of Mary’s son.

Luke 2: 16-21
Mary, kneeling by the manger, is present right at the start of our salvation.