March 15, 2015

First Reading

The Second Book of Chronicles   36: 14-16, 19-23

36:14	Then too, all the leaders of the priests, with the people, transgressed iniquitously, in accord with all the abominations of the Gentiles. And they polluted the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem.
36:15	Then the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising in the night and daily admonishing them. For he was lenient to his people and to his habitation.
36:16	But they ridiculed the messengers of God, and they gave little weight to his words, and they mocked the prophets, until the fury of the Lord ascended against his people, and there was no remedy.
36:19	The enemies set fire to the house of God, and they destroyed the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the towers. And whatever was precious, they demolished.
36:20	If anyone had escaped from the sword, he was led into Babylon. And he served the king and his sons, until the king of Persia would command,
36:21	and the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah would be fulfilled, and the land would celebrate her Sabbaths. For during all the days of the desolation, she kept a Sabbath, until the seventy years were completed.
36:22	Then, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who commanded this to be proclaimed throughout his entire kingdom, and also in writing, saying:
36:23	“Thus says Cyrus, the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he has instructed me that I should build for him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who among you is from his entire people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him ascend.”

 

Second Reading

 

The Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians   2: 4-10

2:4	Yet still, God, who is rich in mercy, for the sake of his exceedingly great charity with which he loved us,
2:5	even when we were dead in our sins, has enlivened us together in Christ, by whose grace you have been saved.
2:6	And he has raised us up together, and he has caused us to sit down together in the heavens, in Christ Jesus,
2:7	so that he may display, in the ages soon to arrive, the abundant wealth of his grace, by his goodness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8	For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God.
2:9	And this is not of works, so that no one may glory.
2:10	For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has prepared and in which we should walk.

 

Gospel

 

The Holy Gospel According to Luke    4: 14-22

4:14	And Jesus returned, in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee. And his fame spread throughout the entire region.
4:15	And he taught in their synagogues, and he was magnified by everyone.
4:16	And he went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. And he entered into the synagogue, according to his custom, on the Sabbath day. And he rose up to read.
4:17	And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. And as he unrolled the book, he found the place where it was written:
4:18	“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because of this, he has anointed me. He has sent me to evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of heart,
4:19	to preach forgiveness to captives and sight to the blind, to release the broken into forgiveness, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of retribution.”
4:20	And when he had rolled up the book, he returned it to the minister, and he sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.
4:21	Then he began to say to them, “On this day, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
4:22	And everyone gave testimony to him. And they wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth. And they said, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”