Daily Readings

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:“My covenant with you is this:you are to become the father of a host of nations.No longer shall you be called Abram;your name shall be Abraham,for I am making you the father of a host of nations.I will render you exceedingly fertile;I will make nations of you;kings shall stem from you.I will maintain my covenant with youand your descendants after youthroughout the ages as an everlasting pact,to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.I will give to youand to your descendants after youthe land in which you are now staying,the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham:“On your part, you and your descendants after youmust keep my covenant throughout the ages.”

R.    (8a)  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.Look to the LORD in his strength;seek to serve him constantly.Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.R.    The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.You descendants of Abraham, his servants,sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!He, the LORD, is our God;throughout the earth his judgments prevail.R.    The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.He remembers forever his covenantwhich he made binding for a thousand generations –Which he entered into with Abrahamand by his oath to Isaac.R.    The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

If today you hear his voice,harden not your hearts.

Jesus said to the Jews:“Amen, amen, I say to you,whoever keeps my word will never see death.”So the Jews said to him,“Now we are sure that you are possessed.Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?Or the prophets, who died?Who do you make yourself out to be?”Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;but it is my Father who glorifies me,of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’You do not know him, but I know him.And if I should say that I do not know him,I would be like you a liar.But I do know him and I keep his word.Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;he saw it and was glad.”So the Jews said to him,“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,before Abraham came to be, I AM.”So they picked up stones to throw at him;but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!”

R.    (8a and 9a)  Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, “Behold I come.” R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. Your justice I kept not hid within my heart; your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of; I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth in the vast assembly. R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Brothers and sisters: It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins. For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The Word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us; and we saw his glory.  

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 her.

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,to bypass the land of Edom.But with their patience worn out by the journey,the people complained against God and Moses,“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,where there is no food or water?We are disgusted with this wretched food!”In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,which bit the people so that many of them died.Then the people came to Moses and said,“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpentlooked at the bronze serpent, he lived.         

R.        (2)  O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.O LORD, hear my prayer,            and let my cry come to you.Hide not your face from me            in the day of my distress.Incline your ear to me;                      in the day when I call, answer me speedily.R.        O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,            and all the kings of the earth your glory,When the LORD has rebuilt Zion            and appeared in his glory;When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,            and not despised their prayer.R.        O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.Let this be written for the generation to come,            and let his future creatures praise the LORD:“The LORD looked down from his holy height,            from heaven he beheld the earth,To hear the groaning of the prisoners,            to release those doomed to die.”R.        O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;all who come to him will live for ever.

Jesus said to the Pharisees:“I am going away and you will look for me,but you will die in your sin.Where I am going you cannot come.”So the Jews said,“He is not going to kill himself, is he,because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”He said to them, “You belong to what is below,I belong to what is above.You belong to this world,but I do not belong to this world.That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.For if you do not believe that I AM,you will die in your sins.”So they said to him, “Who are you?”Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.I have much to say about you in condemnation.But the one who sent me is true,and what I heard from him I tell the world.”They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.So Jesus said to them,“When you lift up the Son of Man,then you will realize that I AM,and that I do nothing on my own,but I say only what the Father taught me.The one who sent me is with me.He has not left me alone,because I always do what is pleasing to him.”Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.