Category: Daily Readings

Isaiah   65: 17-21

65:17	For behold, I create the new heavens and the new earth. And the former things will not be in memory and will not enter into the heart.
65:18	But you will be glad and exult, even forever, in these things that I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as an exultation, and its people as a joy.
65:19	And I will exult in Jerusalem, and I will rejoice in my people. And neither a voice of weeping, nor a voice of outcry, will be heard in her anymore.
65:20	There will no longer be an infant of only a few days there, nor an elder who does not complete his days. For a mere child dies at a hundred years of age, and a sinner of a hundred years will be accursed.
65:21	And they will build houses, and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards, and will eat their fruits.

The Holy Gospel According to John    4: 43-54

4:43	Then, after two days, he departed from there, and he traveled into Galilee.
4:44	For Jesus himself offered testimony that a Prophet has no honor in his own country.
4:45	And so, when he had arrived in Galilee, the Galileans received him, because they had seen all that he had done at Jerusalem, in the day of the feast. For they also went to the feast day.
4:46	Then he went again into Cana of Galilee, where he made water into wine. And there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
4:47	Since he had heard that Jesus came to Galilee from Judea, he sent to him and begged him to come down and heal his son. For he was beginning to die.
4:48	Therefore, Jesus said to him, “Unless you have seen signs and wonders, you do not believe.”
4:49	The ruler said to him, “Lord, come down before my son dies.”
4:50	Jesus said to him, “Go, your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and so he went away.
4:51	Then, as he was going down, his servants met him. And they reported to him, saying that his son was alive.
4:52	Therefore, he asked them at which hour he had become better. And they said to him, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.”
4:53	Then the father realized that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And both he and his entire household believed.
4:54	This next sign was the second that Jesus accomplished, after he had arrived in Galilee from Judea.

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.

Mark 12: 28- 34

12:28	And one of the scribes, who had heard them arguing, drew near to him. And seeing that he had answered them well, he questioned him as to which was the first commandment of all.
12:29	And Jesus answered him: “For the first commandment of all is this: ‘Listen, O Israel. The Lord your God is one God.
12:30	And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from your whole mind, and from your whole strength. This is the first commandment.’
12:31	But the second is similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
12:32	And the scribe said to him: Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth that there is one God, and there is no other beside him;
12:33	and that he should be loved from the whole heart, and from the whole understanding, and from the whole soul, and from the whole strength. And to love one’s neighbor as one’s self is greater than all holocausts and sacrifices.”
12:34	And Jesus, seeing that he had responded wisely, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to question him.

Deuteronomy 4: 1, 5- 9

4:1	“And now, O Israel, listen to the precepts and judgments which I am teaching to you, so that, by doing these, you may live, and you may enter and possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, will give to you.

4:5	You know that I have taught you precepts as well as justices, just as the Lord my God has commanded me. And so shall you do in the land that you will possess.
4:6	And you shall observe and fulfill these in practice. For this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, so that, upon hearing all these precepts, they may say: ‘Lo, a wise and understanding people, a great nation.’
4:7	Neither is there any other nation so great, which has its gods so near to them, as our God is present to all our petitions.
4:8	For what other nation is there so renowned as to have ceremonies, and just judgments, and the entire law that I will set forth today before your eyes?
4:9	And so, guard yourself and your soul carefully. You should not forget the words that your eyes have seen, and do not let them be cut away from your heart, throughout all the days of your life. You shall teach them to your sons and to your grandsons,

Matthew 5: 17- 19

5:17	Do not think that I have come to loosen the law or the prophets. I have not come to loosen, but to fulfill.
5:18	Amen I say to you, certainly, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not one dot shall pass away from the law, until all is done.
5:19	Therefore, whoever will have loosened one of the least of these commandments, and have taught men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever will have done and taught these, such a one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Reading

Isaiah   7: 10-14, 8:10

7:10	And the Lord spoke further to Ahaz, saying:
7:11	Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, from the depths below, even to the heights above.
7:12	And Ahaz said, “I will not ask, for I will not tempt the Lord.”
7:13	And he said: “Then listen, O house of David. Is it such a small thing for you to trouble men, that you must also trouble my God?
7:14	For this reason, the Lord himself will grant to you a sign. Behold, a virgin will conceive, and she will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel.

8:10	Undertake a plan, and it will be dissipated! Speak a word, and it will not be done! For God is with us.

Second Reading

Hebrews   10: 4-10

10:4	For it is impossible for sins to be taken away by the blood of oxen and goats.
10:5	For this reason, as Christ enters into the world, he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have fashioned a body for me.
10:6	Holocausts for sin were not pleasing to you.
10:7	Then I said, ‘Behold, I draw near.’ At the head of the book, it has been written of me that I should do your will, O God.”
10:8	In the above, by saying, “Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin, you did not want, nor are those things pleasing to you, which are offered according to the law;
10:9	then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,’ ” he takes away the first, so that he may establish what follows.
10:10	For by this will, we have been sanctified, through the one time oblation of the body of Jesus Christ.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Luke    1: 26-38

1:26	Then, in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God, to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
1:27	to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.
1:28	And upon entering, the Angel said to her: “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”
1:29	And when she had heard this, she was disturbed by his words, and she considered what kind of greeting this might be.
1:30	And the Angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God.
1:31	Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name: JESUS.
1:32	He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. And he will reign in the house of Jacob for eternity.
1:33	And his kingdom shall have no end.”
1:34	Then Mary said to the Angel, “How shall this be done, since I do not know man?”
1:35	And in response, the Angel said to her: “The Holy Spirit will pass over you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And because of this also, the Holy One who will be born of you shall be called the Son of God.
1:36	And behold, your cousin Elizabeth has herself also conceived a son, in her old age. And this is the sixth month for her who is called barren.
1:37	For no word will be impossible with God.”
1:38	Then Mary said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the Angel departed from her.

Second Book of Kings 5: 1- 15

5:1	Naaman, the leader of the military of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man with his lord. For through him the Lord gave salvation to Syria. And he was a strong and rich man, but a leper.
5:2	Now robbers had gone out from Syria, and they had led away captive, from the land of Israel, a little girl. And she was in the service of the wife of Naaman.
5:3	And she said to her lady: “I wish that my lord had been with the prophet who is in Samaria. Certainly, he would have cured him of the leprosy that he has.”
5:4	And so, Naaman entered to his lord, and he reported to him, saying: “The girl from the land of Israel spoke in such a manner.”
5:5	And the king of Syria said to him, “Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” And when he had set out, he had taken with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand gold coins, and ten changes of fine clothing.
5:6	And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: “When you will receive this letter, know that I have sent to you my servant, Naaman, so that you may heal him of his leprosy.”
5:7	And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his garments, and he said: “Am I God, so that I could take or give life, or so that this man would send to me to cure a man from his leprosy? Take notice and see that he is seeking occasions against me.”
5:8	And when Elisha, the man of God, had heard this, specifically, that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent to him, saying: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
5:9	Therefore, Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots, and he stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
5:10	And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will receive health, and you will be clean.”
5:11	And becoming angry, Naaman went away, saying: “I thought that he would have come out to me, and, standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord, his God, and that he would have touched the place of the leprosy with his hand, and so have healed me.
5:12	Are not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, so that I might wash in them and be cleansed?” But then, after he had turned himself away and was leaving with indignation,
5:13	his servants approached him, and they said to him: “If the prophet had told you, father, to do something great, certainly you ought to have done it. How much more so, now that he has said to you: ‘Wash, and you will be clean?’ ”
5:14	So he descended and washed in the Jordan seven times, in accord with the word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child. And he was made clean.
5:15	And returning to the man of God, with his entire retinue, he arrived, and stood before him, and he said: “Truly, I know there is no other God, in all the earth, except in Israel. And so I beg you to accept a blessing from your servant.”

Luke 4: 24- 30

4:24	Then he said: “Amen I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country.
4:25	In truth, I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, when a great famine had occurred throughout the entire land.
4:26	And to none of these was Elijah sent, except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
4:27	And there were many lepers in Israel under the prophet Elisha. And none of these was cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian.”
4:28	And all those in the synagogue, upon hearing these things, were filled with anger.
4:29	And they rose up and drove him beyond the city. And they brought him all the way to the edge of the mount, upon which their city had been built, so that they might thrown him down violently.
4:30	But passing through their midst, he went away.

Exodus 3: 1-8, 13- 15

3:1	Now Moses was pasturing the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, a priest of Midian. And when he had driven the flock into the interior of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
3:2	And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he saw that the bush was burning and was not burnt.
3:3	Therefore, Moses said, “I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
3:4	Then the Lord, discerning that he proceeded on to see it, called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, “Moses, Moses.” And he responded, “Here I am.”
3:5	And he said: “Lest you should approach here, remove the shoes from your feet. For the place on which you stand is holy ground.”
3:6	And he said, “I am the God of your father: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he dared not look directly at God.
3:7	And the Lord said to him: “I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their outcry because of the harshness of those who are over the works.
3:8	And knowing their sorrow, I have descended in order to free them from the hands of the Egyptians, and to lead them from that land into a good and spacious land, into a land which flows with milk and honey, to the places of the Canaanite, and Hittite, and Amorite, and Perizzite, and Hivite, and Jebusite.

3:13	Moses said to God: “Behold, I will go to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ If they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”
3:14	God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM.” He said: “Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: ‘HE WHO IS has sent me to you.’ ”
3:15	And God said again to Moses: “Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is the name for me in eternity, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.

First Letter to Corinthians 10: 1- 6, 10- 12

10:1	For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and they all went across the sea.
10:2	And in Moses, they all were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea.
10:3	And they all ate of the same spiritual food.
10:4	And they all drank of the same spiritual drink. And so, they all were drinking of the spiritual rock seeking to obtain them; and that rock was Christ.
10:5	But with most of them, God was not well-pleased. For they were struck down in the desert.
10:6	Now these things were done as an example for us, so that we might not desire evil things, just as they desired.

10:10	And you should not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so they perished by the destroyer.
10:11	Now all of these things happened to them as an example, and so they have been written for our correction, because the final age has fallen upon us.
10:12	And so, whosoever considers himself to be standing, let him be careful not to fall.

Luke 13: 1- 9

13:1	And there were present, at that very time, some who were reporting about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices.
13:2	And responding, he said to them: “Do you think that these Galileans must have sinned more than all other Galileans, because they suffered so much?
13:3	No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you will all perish similarly.
13:4	And those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they also were greater transgressors than all the men living in Jerusalem?
13:5	No, I tell you. But if you do not repent, you will all perish similarly.”
13:6	And he also told this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree, which was planted in his vineyard. And he came seeking fruit on it, but found none.
13:7	Then he said to the cultivator of the vineyard: ‘Behold, for these three years I came seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I have found none. Therefore, cut it down. For why should it even occupy the land?’
13:8	But in response, he said to him: ‘Lord, let it be for this year also, during which time I will dig around it and add fertilizer.
13:9	And, indeed, it should bear fruit. But if not, in the future, you shall cut it down.’ ”