Thursday, December 10, 2026 — Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
The greatest among those born of women
Matthew 11:11-15
The Gospel
Jesus tells the crowds that among those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the kingdom suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if they will receive it, John is Elijah who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
Readings of the day: First Reading: Isaiah 41:13-20; Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab; Alleluia: Isaiah 45:8; Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15.
Reflection
John is the greatest of the old order, and yet the least in the Kingdom is greater than he. St. John Chrysostom sees the care in that sentence: Jesus first gives John the praise of the Prophets, then adds His own decision, and then at once corrects any mistake, so that no one sets John above Christ. The praise is real, and the line is real too. John stands at the threshold. The Kingdom he announced is now breaking in, and St. Gregory explains the strange words that follow: sinners who return in penitence and amend their lives enter as sinners into the place of another and take the Kingdom by violence. It is the violence of repentance, the force of a heart that refuses to stay where it was. Advent is the season to lay hold of the Kingdom that way: not politely, not someday, but with the haste of one who knows the door is open now.
From the Fathers
“Having first delivered the Prophet’s testimony in praise of John, He rested not there, but added His own decision respecting him, saying, Among them that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.”
— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 37 on Matthew, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 11:11-15
“By the kingdom of heaven is meant the heavenly throne, whither when sinners defiled with any evil deed return in penitence, and amend themselves, they enter as sinners into the place of another, and take by violence the kingdom of heaven.”
— St. Gregory the Great, Homily 20 on the Gospels, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 11:11-15
Saint of the day
Our Lady of Loreto. The Holy House of Loreto, in Italy, is honored as the house of Nazareth in which the Word was made flesh at the Annunciation. Tradition holds that the house was carried to Loreto in 1294. Pope Francis inscribed her optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar in 2019, to be kept every year on December 10.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 184). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Matthew 11:11-15, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).