Category: Daily Readings

Second Thessalonians 1: 1-5, 11- 12

1:1	Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:2	Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3	We ought to give thanks always to God for you, brothers, in a fitting manner, because your faith is increasing greatly, and because the charity of each of you toward one another is abundant,
1:4	so much so that we ourselves even glory in you among the churches of God, because of your patience and faith in all of your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
1:5	which are a sign of the just judgment of God, so that you may be held worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.

1:11	Because of this, too, we pray always for you, so that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may complete every act of his goodness, as well as his work of faith in virtue,
1:12	in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 23: 13- 22

23:13	So then: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you close the kingdom of heaven before men. For you yourselves do not enter, and those who are entering, you would not permit to enter.
23:14	Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you consume the houses of widows, praying long prayers. Because of this, you shall receive the greater judgment.
23:15	Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and by land, in order to make one convert. And when he has been converted, you make him twice the son of Hell that you are yourselves.
23:16	Woe to you, blind guides, who say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the temple, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gold of the temple is obligated.’
23:17	You are foolish and blind! For which is greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
23:18	And you say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gift that is on the altar is obligated.’
23:19	How blind you are! For which is greater: the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
23:20	Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all that is on it.
23:21	And whoever will have sworn by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it.
23:22	And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.

First Reading

The Book of the Prophet Amos   7: 12-15

7:12	And Amaziah said to Amos, “You, seer, go out and flee into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.
7:13	And in Bethel, do not prophesy any longer, because it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.”
7:14	And Amos responded, and he said to Amasias, “I am not a prophet, and I am not the son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman plucking from wild fig trees.
7:15	And the Lord took me, when I was following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ”

Second Reading

The Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians     1: 3-14

1:3	Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ,
1:4	just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and immaculate in his sight, in charity.
1:5	He has predestined us to adoption as sons, through Jesus Christ, in himself, according to the purpose of his will,
1:6	for the praise of the glory of his grace, with which he has gifted us in his beloved Son.
1:7	In him, we have redemption through his blood: the remission of sins in accord with the riches of his grace,
1:8	which is superabundant in us, with all wisdom and prudence.
1:9	So does he make known to us the mystery of his will, which he has set forth in Christ, in a manner well-pleasing to him,
1:10	in the dispensation of the fullness of time, so as to renew in Christ everything that exists through him in heaven and on earth.
1:11	In him, we too are called to our portion, having been predestined in accord with the plan of the One who accomplishes all things by the counsel of his will.
1:12	So may we be, to the praise of his glory, we who have hoped beforehand in Christ.
1:13	In him, you also, after you heard and believed the Word of truth, which is the Gospel of your salvation, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the Promise.
1:14	He is the pledge of our inheritance, unto the acquisition of redemption, to the praise of his glory.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Mark     6: 7-13

6:7	And he called the twelve. And he began to send them out in twos, and he gave them authority over unclean spirits.
6:8	And he instructed them not to take anything for the journey, except a staff: no traveling bag, no bread, and no money belt,
6:9	but to wear sandals, and not to wear two tunics.
6:10	And he said to them: “Whenever you have entered into a house, stay there until you depart from that place.
6:11	And whoever will neither receive you, nor listen to you, as you go away from there, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
6:12	And going out, they were preaching, so that people would repent.
6:13	And they cast out many demons, and they anointed many of the sick with oil and healed them.

Isaiah 6: 1- 8

6:1 In the year in which king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, sublime and exalted, and the things that were under him filled the temple.
6:2 The Seraphims were standing above the throne. One had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they were covering his face, and with two they were covering his feet, and with two they were flying.
6:3 And they were crying out to one another, and saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!”
6:4 And the lintels above the hinges were shaken at the voice of the one crying out. And the house was filled with smoke.
6:5 And I said: “Woe to me! For I have remained silent. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live in the midst of a people having unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6:6 And one of the Seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
6:7 And he touched my mouth, and he said, “Behold, this has touched your lips, and so your iniquities will be taken away, and your sin will be cleansed.”
6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send?” and, “Who will go for us?” And I said: “Here I am. Send me.”

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 10: 24- 33

10:24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus, answering again, said to them: “Little sons, how difficult it is for those who trust in money to enter into the kingdom of God!
10:25 It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God.”
10:26 And they wondered even more, saying among themselves, “Who, then, can be saved?”
10:27 And Jesus, gazing at them, said: “With men it is impossible; but not with God. For with God all things are possible.”
10:28 And Peter began to say to him, “Behold, we have left all things and have followed you.”
10:29 In response, Jesus said: “Amen I say to you, There is no one who has left behind house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or land, for my sake and for the Gospel,
10:30 who will not receive one hundred times as much, now in this time: houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land, with persecutions, and in the future age eternal life.
10:31 But many of the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.”

Hosea 14: 2- 10

14:2 Israel, convert to the Lord your God. For you have been ruined by your own iniquity.
14:3 Take these words with you and return to the Lord. And say to him, “Remove all iniquity and accept the good. And we will repay the calves of our lips.
14:4 Assur will not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say any more, ‘The works of our hands are our gods,’ for those that are in you will have mercy on the orphan.”
14:5 I will heal their contrition; I will love them spontaneously. For my wrath has been turned away from them.
14:6 I will be like the dew; Israel will spring forth like the lily, and his root will spread out like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
14:7 His branches will advance, and his glory will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance will be like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
14:8 They will be converted, sitting in his shadow. They will live on wheat, and they will grow like a vine. His memorial will be like the wine of the cedars of Lebanon.
14:9 Ephraim will say, “What are idols to me any more?” I will listen to him, and I will set him straight like a healthy spruce tree. Your fruit has been found by me.
14:10 Who is wise and will understand this? Who has understanding and will know these things? For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just will walk in them, but truly, the traitors will fall in them.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 10: 16-23

10:16 And embracing them, and laying his hands upon them, he blessed them.
10:17 And when he had departed on the way, a certain one, running up and kneeling before him, asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do, so that I may secure eternal life?”
10:18 But Jesus said to him, “Why call me good? No one is good except the one God.
10:19 You know the precepts: “Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not speak false testimony. Do not deceive. Honor your father and mother.”
10:20 But in response, he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.”
10:21 Then Jesus, gazing at him, loved him, and he said to him: “One thing is lacking to you. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”
10:22 But he went away grieving, having been greatly saddened by the word. For he had many possessions.
10:23 And Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!”

Hosea 11: 1- 4, 8-9

11:1 Just as the morning passes, so has the king of Israel passed by. For Israel was a child and I loved him; and out of Egypt I called my son.
11:2 They called them, and so they departed before their face. They offered victims to the Baals, and they sacrificed to graven images.
11:3 And I was like a foster father to Ephraim. I carried them in my arms. And they did not know that I healed them.
11:4 I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. And I will be to them like one who raises the yoke over their jaws. And I will reach down to him so that he may eat.

11:8 How will I provide for you, Ephraim; how will I protect you, Israel? How will I provide for you as for Adam; will I set you like Zeboiim? My heart has changed within me; together with my regret, it has been stirred up.
11:9 I will not act on the fury of my wrath. I will not turn back to utterly destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Divine in your midst, and I will not advance upon the city.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 10: 7-15

10:7 Because of this, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife.
10:8 And these two shall be one in flesh. And so, they are now, not two, but one flesh.
10:9 Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
10:10 And again, in the house, his disciples questioned him about the same thing.
10:11 And he said to them: “Whoever dismisses his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.
10:12 And if a wife dismisses her husband, and is married to another, she commits adultery.”
10:13 And they brought to him the little children, so that he might touch them. But the disciples admonished those who brought them.
10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he took offense, and he said to them: “Allow the little ones to come to me, and do not prohibit them. For of such as these is the kingdom of God.
10:15 Amen I say to you, whoever will not accept the kingdom of God like a little child, will not enter into it.”

Hosea 10: 1- 3, 7- 8, 12

10:1 Israel is a leafy vine, its fruit has been suitable to him. According to the multitude of his fruit, he has multiplied altars; according to the fertility of his land, he has abounded with graven images.
10:2 His heart has been divided, so now they will cross the divide. He will break apart their images; he will plunder their sanctuaries.
10:3 For now they will say, “We have no king. For we do not fear the Lord. And what would a king do for us?”

10:7 Samaria has required her king to pass by, like foam on the face of the water.
10:8 And the heights of the idol, the sin of Israel, will be utterly destroyed. The burr and the thistle will rise up over their altars. And they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us,’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us.’
10:12 Sow for yourselves in justice, and harvest in the mouth of mercy; renew your fallow land. But the time when you will seek the Lord is the time when he will arrive who will teach you justice.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 10: 1-7

10:1 And rising up, he went from there into the area of Judea beyond the Jordan. And again, the crowd came together before him. And just as he was accustomed to do, again he taught them.
10:2 And approaching, the Pharisees questioned him, testing him: “Is it lawful for a man to dismiss his wife?”
10:3 But in response, he said to them, “What did Moses instruct you?”
10:4 And they said, “Moses gave permission to write a bill of divorce and to dismiss her.”
10:5 But Jesus responded by saying: “It was due to the hardness of your heart that he wrote that precept for you.
10:6 But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
10:7 Because of this, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife.

Hosea 8: 4- 7, 11- 13

8:4 They have reigned, but not by me. Leaders have emerged, and I did not recognize them. Their silver and their gold, they have made into idols for themselves, so that they might cross over.
8:5 Your calf, Samaria, has been rejected. My fury has been enraged against them. How long will they be incapable of being cleansed?
8:6 For it is itself also from Israel: a workman made it, and it is not God. For the calf of Samaria will be used for the webs of spiders.
8:7 For they will sow wind and reap a whirlwind. It does not have a firm stalk; the bud will yield no grain. But if it does yield, strangers will eat it.

8:11 For Ephraim multiplied altars to sin, and sanctuaries have become an offense for him.
8:12 I will write to him my intricate laws, which have been treated like strangers.
8:13 They will offer victims, they will immolate flesh and will eat, and the Lord will not accept them. For now he will remember their iniquity, and he will repay their sins: they will be turned back to Egypt.

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 9: 32-38

9:32 And they went to Capernaum. And when they were in the house, he questioned them, “What did you discuss on the way?”
9:33 But they were silent. For indeed, on the way, they had disputed among themselves as to which of them was greater.
9:34 And sitting down, he called the twelve, and he said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be the last of all and the minister of all.”
9:35 And taking a child, he set him in their midst. And when he had embraced him, he said to them:
9:36 “Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me.”
9:37 John responded to him by saying, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name; he does not follow us, and so we prohibited him.”
9:38 But Jesus said: “Do not prohibit him. For there is no one who can act with virtue in my name and soon speak evil about me.

Hosea 2: 16- 18, 21-22

2:16 And it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “that she will call me, ‘My Husband,’ and she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’
2:17 And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and she will no longer remember their name.
2:18 And in that day, I will strike a deal with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creatures of the earth. And I will crush the bow and the sword, and I will wipe away war from the earth. And I will let them sleep securely.

2:21 And this will happen in that day: I will listen closely,” says the Lord. “I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the earth.
2:22 And the land will pay attention to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and these will hear Jezreel.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 9: 18-26

9:18 And answering them, he said: “O unbelieving generation, how long must I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring him to me.”
9:19 And they brought him. And when he had seen him, immediately the spirit disturbed him. And having been thrown to the ground, he rolled around foaming.
9:20 And he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” But he said: “From infancy.
9:21 And often it casts him into fire or into water, in order to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, help us and take pity on us.”
9:22 But Jesus said to him, “If you are able to believe: all things are possible to one who believes.”
9:23 And immediately the father of the boy, crying out with tears, said: “I do believe, Lord. Help my unbelief.”
9:24 And when Jesus saw the crowd rushing together, he admonished the unclean spirit, saying to him, “Deaf and mute spirit, I command you, leave him; and do not enter into him anymore.”
9:25 And crying out, and convulsing him greatly, he departed from him. And he became like one who is dead, so much so that many said, “He is dead.”
9:26 But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up. And he arose.

First Reading

Ezekiel 2: 2- 5

2:2 And after this was spoken to me, the Spirit entered into me, and he set me on my feet. And I heard him speaking to me,

2:3 and saying: “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to an apostate nation, which has withdrawn from me. They and their fathers have betrayed my covenant, even to this day.

2:4 And those to whom I am sending you are sons with a hard face and an unyielding heart. And you shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

2:5 Perhaps it may be that they will hear, and perhaps they may be quieted. For they are a provoking house. And they shall know that there has been a prophet in their midst.

Second Reading

Second Corinthians 12: 7- 10

12:7 And lest the greatness of the revelations should extol me, there was given to me a prodding in my flesh: an angel of Satan, who struck me repeatedly.

12:8 Because of this, three times I petitioned the Lord that it might be taken away from me.

12:9 And he said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you. For virtue is perfected in weakness.” And so, willingly shall I glory in my weaknesses, so that the virtue of Christ may live within me.

12:10 Because of this, I am pleased in my infirmity: in reproaches, in difficulties, in persecutions, in distresses, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Mark    6: 1-6

6:1	And departing from there, he went away to his own country; and his disciples followed him.
6:2	And when the Sabbath arrived, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many, upon hearing him, were amazed at his doctrine, saying: “Where did this one get all these things?” and, “What is this wisdom, which has been given to him?” and, “Such powerful deeds, which are wrought by his hands!”
6:3	“Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? Are not his sisters also here with us?” And they took great offense at him.
6:4	And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred.”
6:5	And he was not able to perform any miracles there, except that he cured a few of the infirm by laying his hands on them.
6:6	And he wondered, because of their unbelief, and he traveled around in the villages, teaching.

Reading

The Book of the Prophet Amos 9: 11-15

9:11 In that day, I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which is fallen. And I will repair the breaches in its walls, and I will restore that which collapsed. And I will rebuild it, just as in the days of antiquity,
9:12 so that they may possess the remnant of Idumea and all the nations, for my name has been invoked over them, says the Lord who does this.
9:13 Behold, the days pass, says the Lord, and the plower will overtake the harvester, and the treader of grapes will overtake the sower of seed. And the mountains will drip sweetness, and every hill will be cultivated.
9:14 And I will turn back the captivity of my people Israel. And they will rebuild the deserted cities and inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. And they will create gardens and eat their fruits.
9:15 And I will plant them on their own soil. And I will no longer root them out of their own land, which I have given them, says the Lord your God.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew 9: 14-17

9:14 Then the disciples of John drew near to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast frequently, but your disciples do not fast?”
9:15 And Jesus said to them: “How can the sons of the groom mourn, while the groom is still with them? But the days will arrive when the groom will be taken away from them. And then they shall fast.
9:16 For no one would sew a patch of new cloth onto an old garment. For it pulls its fullness away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
9:17 Neither do they pour new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wineskins rupture, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are destroyed. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins. And so, both are preserved.”