Daily Readings

There is no god besides you who have the care of all,that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.For your might is the source of justice;your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,and with much lenience you govern us;for power, whenever you will, attends you.And you taught your people, by these deeds,that those who are just must be kind;and you gave your children good ground for hopethat you would permit repentance for their sins. 

R. (5a) Lord, you are good and forgiving.You, O LORD, are good and forgiving,abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.Hearken, O LORD, to my prayerand attend to the sound of my pleading.R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.All the nations you have made shall comeand worship you, O LORD,and glorify your name.For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;you alone are God.R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.Turn toward me, and have pity on me;give your strength to your servant.R. Lord, you are good and forgiving. 

Brothers and sisters:The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;for we do not know how to pray as we ought,but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches heartsknows what is the intention of the Spirit,because he intercedes for the holy onesaccording to God's will. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:"The kingdom of heaven may be likenedto a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy cameand sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said,'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?'He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'His slaves said to him,'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weedsyou might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest;then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;but gather the wheat into my barn."'"He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seedthat a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds,yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush,and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"He spoke to them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeastthat a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flouruntil the whole batch was leavened."All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables,to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:I will open my mouth in parables,I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundationof the world.Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said,"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,and the enemy who sows them is the devil.The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels,and they will collect out of his kingdomall who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace,where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear." 

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a manwho sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy cameand sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said,'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?'He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weedsyou might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest;then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;but gather the wheat into my barn."'" 

Woe to those who plan iniquity,and work out evil on their couches;In the morning light they accomplish itwhen it lies within their power.They covet fields, and seize them;houses, and they take them;They cheat an owner of his house,a man of his inheritance.Therefore thus says the LORD:Behold, I am planning against this race an evilfrom which you shall not withdraw your necks;Nor shall you walk with head high,for it will be a time of evil.On that day a satire shall be sung over you,and there shall be a plaintive chant:"Our ruin is complete,our fields are portioned out among our captors,The fields of my people are measured out,and no one can get them back!"Thus you shall have no oneto mark out boundaries by lotin the assembly of the LORD. 

R. (12b) Do not forget the poor, O Lord!Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof?Why hide in times of distress?Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted,who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived. R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!For the wicked man glories in his greed,and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought.The wicked man boasts, "He will not avenge it";"There is no God," sums up his thoughts. R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit;under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.He lurks in ambush near the villages;in hiding he murders the innocent;his eyes spy upon the unfortunate. R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,taking them in your hands.On you the unfortunate man depends;of the fatherless you are the helper.R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord! 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesusto put him to death.When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.Many people followed him, and he cured them all,but he warned them not to make him known.This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,my beloved in whom I delight;I shall place my Spirit upon him,and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.He will not contend or cry out,nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.A bruised reed he will not break,a smoldering wick he will not quench,until he brings justice to victory.And in his name the Gentiles will hope. 

When Hezekiah was mortally ill,the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him:"Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order,for you are about to die; you shall not recover."Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD:"O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedlyI conducted myself in your presence,doing what was pleasing to you!"And Hezekiah wept bitterly.Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: "Go, tell Hezekiah:Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD's temple;I will add fifteen years to your life.I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;I will be a shield to this city."Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be takenand applied to the boil, that he might recover.Then Hezekiah asked,"What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?"Isaiah answered:"This will be the sign for you from the LORDthat he will do what he has promised:See, I will make the shadow cast by the sunon the stairway to the terrace of Ahazgo back the ten steps it has advanced."So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced. 

R. (see 17b) You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.Once I said,"In the noontime of life I must depart!To the gates of the nether world I shall be consignedfor the rest of my years." R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.I said, "I shall see the LORD no morein the land of the living.No longer shall I behold my fellow menamong those who dwell in the world."R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,is struck down and borne away from me;You have folded up my life, like a weaverwho severs the last thread.R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.Those live whom the LORD protects;yours is the life of my spirit.You have given me health and life.R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;I know them, and they follow me.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.His disciples were hungryand began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."He said to them, "Have you not read what David didwhen he and his companions were hungry,how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,which neither he nor his companionsbut only the priests could lawfully eat?Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbaththe priests serving in the temple violate the sabbathand are innocent?I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,you would not have condemned these innocent men.For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."