From: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

The Flight Into Egypt

[13] Now when they (the Magi) had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord ap-
peared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the Child and His mother,
and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for
the Child, to destroy Him.” [14] And he rose and took the Child and His mother
by night, and departed to Egypt, [15] and remained there until the death of Herod.
This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have
I called My Son.”

The Return to Nazareth

[19] But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt, saying, [20] “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the
land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” [21] And he rose
and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when
he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was
afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Ga-
lilee. [23] And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken
by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

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Commentary:

14. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, draws a particular at-
tention to Joseph’s faithfulness and obedience: “On hearing this, Joseph was not
scandalized, nor did he say, ‘This is hard to understand. You yourself told me not
long ago that He would save His people, and not He is not able to save even Him-
self. Indeed, we have to flee and undertake a journey and be away for a long time
...’. But he does not say any of these things, because Joseph is a faithful man.
Neither does he ask when they will be coming back, even though the angel had
left it open when he said ‘and remain there till I tell you.’ This does not hold him
back: on the contrary, he obeys, believes and endures all trials with joy” (”Hom.
on St. Matthew”, 8).

It is worth noting also how God’s way of dealing with His chosen ones contains
light and shade: they have to put up with intense sufferings side by side with
great joy: “It can be clearly seen that God, who is full of love for man, mixes plea-
sant things with unpleasant ones, as He did with all the Saints. He gives us nei-
ther dangers nor consolations in a continual way, but rather He makes the lives
of the just a mixture of both. This was what He did with Joseph” (ibid.).

15. The text of Hosea 11:1 speaks of a child who comes out of Egypt and is a
son of God. This refers in the first place to the people of Israel whom God brought
out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership. But this event was a symbol or prefigura-
tion of Jesus, the Head of the Church, the New People of God. It is in Him that
this prophecy is principally fulfilled. The sacred text gives a quotation from the
Old Testament in the light of its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament
achieves its full meaning in Christ, and, in the words of St. Paul, to read it with-
out keeping in mind Jesus is to have one’s face covered by a veil (cf. 2 Cor 3:12-
18),

22. History tells us that Archelaus was ambitious and cruel like his father. By
the time Joseph returned from Egypt, the new king was quite notorious.

“In the different circumstances of his life, St. Joseph never refuses to think, never
neglects his responsibilities. On the contrary, he puts his human experience at
the service of faith. When he returns from Egypt, learning ‘that Archelaus reigned
over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.’ In other words,
he had learned to work within the Divine Plan. And to confirm that he was doing
the right thing, Joseph received an instruction to return to Galilee” St. J. Escriva,
“Christ Is Passing By”, 42).

23. Nazareth, where the Annunciation had taken place (Luke 1:26), was a tiny
and insignificant Palestinian village. It was located in Galilee, the most northerly
part of the country. The term “Nazarene” refers to Jesus’ geographic origin, but
His critics used it as term of abuse when He began His mission (John 1:46). E-
ven in the time of St. Paul the Jews tried to humiliate the Christians by calling
them Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). Many prophets predicted that the Messiah would
suffer poverty and contempt (Isaiah 52:2ff.; Jeremiah 11:19; Psalm 22), but the
words “He shall be called a Nazarene” are not to be found as such in any pro-
phetic text. They are, as St. Jerome points out, a summary of the prophets’ tea-
ching in a short and expressive phrase. However, St. Jerome himself (cf. “Comm.
on Isaiah”, 11:1) says that the name “Nazarene” fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah
11:1: Christ is the “shoot” (”nezer”, in Hebrew) of the entire race of Abraham
and David.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading
Ecclesiasticus 3:3-7,14-17 ©

The Lord honours the father in his children,

and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons.

Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins,

he who honours his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.

Whoever respects his father will be happy with children of his own,

he shall be heard on the day when he prays.

Long life comes to him who honours his father,

he who sets his mother at ease is showing obedience to the Lord.

My son, support your father in his old age,

do not grieve him during his life.

Even if his mind should fail, show him sympathy,

do not despise him in your health and strength;

for kindness to a father shall not be forgotten

but will serve as reparation for your sins.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 127(128):1-5 ©

O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!

O blessed are those who fear the Lord

and walk in his ways!

By the labour of your hands you shall eat.

You will be happy and prosper.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

in the heart of your house;

your children like shoots of the olive,

around your table.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!

Indeed thus shall be blessed

the man who fears the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion

all the days of your life!

O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!

Gospel Acclamation	Col3:15,16

Alleluia, alleluia!

May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts;

let the message of Christ find a home with you.

Alleluia!

Gospel
Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 ©

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

After Herod’s death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled:

‘He will be called a Nazarene.’