Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for December 20, 2025
Here is the video of today’s reflection.
The Youtube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I am Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. It’s December 20th, 5 days from Christmas. Behind me, you have the extraordinarily [music] beautiful Our Lady’s Chapel in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. It’s fitting that the beautiful statue of our Lady is behind me because in today’s gospel, we have the scene of the Annunciation, the beginning of the immediate preparation for the birth of Jesus when the archangel Gabriel sent from God came to Nazareth to a [music] virgin betroth to a man named Joseph of the house of David whose name was Mary. The archangel Gabriel announced to [music] her, “Rejoice. You have been filled with grace. The Lord is with you.” and then revealed God’s incredible plan that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and [music] overshadow her so that the child she would conceive virginally would be called holy, the son of God. And so Mary shows us first how to receive the incredible grace that God wants to give us. We ourselves are not going to be impregnated with Jesus, the word made flesh, but we will hear his word and we’re supposed to let that word grow and we’re supposed to share that word with the word with the world. But she likewise shows us how to respond to those graces. She said, “Behold, I am the handmade of the Lord. Let it happen in me according to your word.” We are all supposed to be servants of the Lord [music] and allow our whole life to develop according to the will and the word of God. That is what we’re seeking to do as we enter more deeply into the mission of Christmas. That is precisely what missionaries all across [music] the globe seek to do when saying yes to God in response to their vocation to take [music] the extraordinary gift of the gospel to the ends of the earth so that everybody else [music] can recognize that Emanuel God with us is indeed with us in the world. So, as we are five days before Christmas, let’s learn from our lady how to receive the grace of God, how to respond to it with our full heart, and how like we will see her do in two days to go in haste to bring this extraordinary gift to others. God bless you.
In the sixth month,
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from he