Thursday, December 17, 2026
December 17
The liturgical day
December 17
- Advent
- Liturgical color: Violet
The Mass readings
- First reading
- Genesis 49:2, 8-10
- Responsorial Psalm
- Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17
- Gospel
- Matthew 1:1-17
Read today's Mass readings on the USCCB site
The readings open on the USCCB website. They follow the Lectionary for Mass approved for the United States, a different translation from the Douay-Rheims we use on this site. Desert Road Catholic is not affiliated with the USCCB.
First reading: Genesis 49:2, 8-10
Douay-Rheims: Genesis 49:2, 8-10
2Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:
8Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee. 9Juda is a lion’s whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him? 10The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17
Douay-Rheims: Psalm 71:2-4, 7-8, 17 (Psalm 72 at Mass)
2Give to the king thy judgment, O God: and to the king’s son thy justice: To judge thy people with justice, and thy poor with judgment. 3Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and the hills justice. 4He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor.
7In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away. 8And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
17Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continueth before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him.
Gospel: Matthew 1:1-17
Douay-Rheims: Matthew 1:1-17
1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren. 3And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esron. And Esron begot Aram. 4And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon. 5And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse. 6And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias. 7And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa. 8And Asa begot Josaphat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias. 9And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joatham begot Achaz. And Achaz begot Ezechias. 10And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manasses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias. 11And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon. 12And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel. 13And Zorobabel begot Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor. 14And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc begot Achim. And Achim begot Eliud. 15And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob. 16And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17So all the generations, from Abraham to David, are fourteen generations. And from David to the transmigration of Babylon, are fourteen generations: and from the transmigration of Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.
The same passages in the Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), the translation we use on this site. The words read at Mass come from the Lectionary for Mass and differ. Where a reading begins or ends partway through a verse, the whole verse is shown. For the official text, open the readings on the USCCB site.
December 2026
Key
- Violet
- White
- Rose
- Red
- ObligHoly day of obligation (also a solemnity)
The dot shows the liturgical color of the day. Fridays outside Lent carry no marker.
A word for the day
Leave vain things to vain men, and mind thou the things which God hath commanded thee.
The Rosary today
The Luminous Mysteries, prayed on Thursday.
Keep this day
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This calendar follows the General Roman Calendar for the United States. Some feasts are kept on other days in some provinces and dioceses, so check your parish calendar.
Calendar computed with romcal (MIT License). Reading citations from the Catholic Readings API (MIT License), with gaps checked against the USCCB pages. Douay-Rheims text courtesy of eBible.org.