Category: Daily Readings

Reading

Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17

24:2 and lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel dwelling in tents by their tribes. And with the Spirit of God rushing into him,

24:3 taking up his parable, he said: “Balaam, the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed,

24:4 the hearer of the sermon of God, he who has gazed upon a vision of the Almighty, he who falls down and so his eyes are opened, has declared:

24:5 ‘How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel!

24:6 They are like forested valleys, like gardens irrigated next to rivers, like tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, like cedars close to waters.

24:7 Water shall flow from his jar, and his offspring shall be amid many waters, because Agag, his king, shall be taken, and his kingdom shall be removed.

24:15 Therefore, taking up his parable, he again spoke: “Balaam the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed,

24:16 the hearer of the sermon of God, he who knows the doctrine of the Most High, and who sees the visions of the Almighty, who, falling down, has his eyes opened, has declared:

24:17 I shall see him, but not presently. I shall gaze upon him, but not soon. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel. And he shall strike down the commanders of Moab, and he shall devastate all the sons of Seth.

Gospel

Matthew 21: 23-27

21:23 And when he had arrived at the temple, as he was teaching, the leaders of the priests and the elders of the people approached him, saying: “By what authority do you do these things? And who has given this authority to you?”

21:24 In response, Jesus said to them: “I also will question you with one word: if you tell me this, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.

21:25 The baptism of John, where was it from? Was it from heaven, or from men?” But they thought within themselves, saying:

21:26 “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we have the crowd to fear, for they all hold John to be a prophet.”

21:27 And so, they answered Jesus by saying, “We do not know.” So he also said to them: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Isaiah 35: 1- 6, 10

35:1	The desolate and impassable land will rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will flourish like the lily.
35:2	It will spring up and blossom, and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.
35:3	Strengthen the lax hands, and confirm the weak knees!
35:4	Say to the fainthearted: “Take courage and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of retribution. God himself will arrive to save you.”
35:5	Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.
35:6	Then the disabled will leap like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary places.

35:10

And the redeemed of the Lord will be converted, and they will return to Zion with praising. And everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and rejoicing. For pain and sorrow will flee away.

James 5: 7- 10

5:7	Therefore, be patient, brothers, until the advent of the Lord. Consider that the farmer anticipates the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently, until he receives the early and the late rains.
5:8	Therefore, you too should be patient and should strengthen your hearts. For the advent of the Lord draws near.
5:9	Brothers, do not complain against one another, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door.
5:10	My brothers, consider the Prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of departing from evil, of labor, and of patience.

Matthew 11: 2- 11

11:2	Now when John had heard, in prison, about the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, he said to him,
11:3	“Are you he who is to come, or should we expect another?”
11:4	And Jesus, responding, said to them: “Go and report to John what you have heard and seen.
11:5	The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor are evangelized.
11:6	And blessed is he who has found no offense in me.”
11:7	Then, after they departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
11:8	So what did you go out to see? A man in soft garments? Behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings.
11:9	Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
11:10	For this is he, of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send my Angel before your face, who shall prepare your way before you.’
11:11	Amen I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Reading

The Book of Sirach   48: 1-4, 9-11

48:1	And the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
48:2	He brought a famine upon them, and those who provoked him in their envy became few. For they could not bear the precepts of the Lord.
48:3	By the word of the Lord, he closed the heavens, and he brought down fire from heaven three times.
48:4	In this way, Elijah was magnified in his wondrous works. So who can say that he is similar to you in glory?
48:9	He was received into a whirlwind of fire, into a swift chariot with fiery horses.
48:10	He is written in the judgments of the times, so as to lessen the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
48:11	Blessed are those who saw you, and who were adorned with your friendship.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew    17: 9-13

17:9	And as they were descending from the mountain, Jesus instructed them, saying, “Tell no one about the vision, until the Son of man has risen from the dead.”
17:10	And his disciples questioned him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to arrive first?”
17:11	But in response, he said to them: “Elijah, indeed, shall arrive and restore all things.
17:12	But I say to you, that Elijah has already arrived, and they did not recognize him, but they did whatever they wanted to him. So also shall the Son of man suffer from them.”
17:13	Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah    41: 13-20

41:13	For I am the Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you: Do not be afraid. I have helped you.
41:14	Fear not, O worm of Jacob, you who are dead within Israel. I have helped you, says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
41:15	I have established you like a new threshing cart, having serrated blades. You will thresh the mountains and crush them. And you will turn the hills into chaff.
41:16	You will winnow them, and the wind will blow them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. And you shall exult in the Lord; you shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17	The indigent and the poor are seeking water, but there is none. Their tongue has been dried up by thirst. I, the Lord, will heed them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41:18	I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the impassable land into streams of water.
41:19	I will plant the cedar in a deserted place, with the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. In the desert, I will plant the pine, and the elm, and the box tree together,
41:20	so that they may see and know, acknowledge and understand, together, that the hand of the Lord has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew   11: 11-15

11:11	Amen I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
11:12	But from the days of John the Baptist, even until now, the kingdom of heaven has endured violence, and the violent carry it away.
11:13	For all the prophets and the law prophesied, even until John.
11:14	And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah, who is to come.
11:15	Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

Isaiah 40: 25-31

40:25	“And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.
40:26	Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind.
40:27	Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”
40:28	Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable.
40:29	It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
40:30	Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
40:31	But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.

Matthew 11: 28- 30

11:28	Come to me, all you who labor and have been burdened, and I will refresh you.
11:29	Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
11:30	For my yoke is sweet and my burden is light.”

Isaiah 40: 1- 11

40:1	“Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.
40:2	Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.
40:3	The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
40:4	Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.
40:5	And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
40:6	The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
40:7	The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass.
40:8	The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
40:9	You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”
40:10	Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.
40:11	He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.

Matthew 18: 12- 14

18:12	How does it seem to you? If someone has one hundred sheep, and if one of them has gone astray, should he not leave behind the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go out to seek what has gone astray?
18:13	And if he should happen to find it: Amen I say to you, that he has more joy over that one, than over the ninety-nine which did not go astray.
18:14	Even so, it is not the will before your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should be lost.

 

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Reading

A Reading From the Book of Genesis     3: 9-15, 20

3:9	And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: “Where are you?”
3:10	And he said, “I heard your voice in Paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and so I hid myself.”
3:11	He said to him, “Then who told you that you were naked, if you have not eaten of the tree from which I instructed you that you should not eat?”
3:12	And Adam said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion, gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”
3:13	And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
3:14	And the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed among all living things, even the wild beasts of the earth. Upon your breast shall you travel, and the ground shall you eat, all the days of your life.
3:15	I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. She will crush your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel.”
3:20	And Adam called the name of his wife, ‘Eve,’ because she was the mother of all the living.

Second Reading

The Letter of  Saint Paul to the Ephesians   1: 3-6, 11-12

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.
1:11	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.

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.