Daily Readings

The brook near where Elijah was hiding ran dry,because no rain had fallen in the land.So the LORD said to Elijah:“Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there.I have designated a widow there to provide for you.”He left and went to Zarephath.As he arrived at the entrance of the city,a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her,“Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.”She left to get it, and he called out after her,“Please bring along a bit of bread.”She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,I have nothing baked;there is only a handful of flour in my jarand a little oil in my jug.Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;when we have eaten it, we shall die.”Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid.Go and do as you propose.But first make me a little cake and bring it to me.Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,nor the jug of oil run dry,until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”She left and did as Elijah had said.She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well;the jar of flour did not go empty,nor the jug of oil run dry,as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.

R. (7a) Lord, let your face shine on us.When I call, answer me, O my just God,you who relieve me when I am in distress;Have pity on me, and hear my prayer!Men of rank, how long will you be dull of heart?Why do you love what is vain and seek after falsehood?R. Lord, let your face shine on us.Know that the LORD does wonders for his faithful one;the LORD will hear me when I call upon him.Tremble, and sin not;reflect, upon your beds, in silence.R. Lord, let your face shine on us.O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us!You put gladness into my heart,more than when grain and wine abound.R. Lord, let your face shine on us.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Let your light shine before othersThat they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:“You are the salt of the earth.But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?It is no longer good for anythingbut to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.You are the light of the world.A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;it is set on a lampstand,where it gives light to all in the house.Just so, your light must shine before others,that they may see your good deedsand glorify your heavenly Father.” 

Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab:“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.”The LORD then said to Elijah:“Leave here, go eastand hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.You shall drink of the stream,and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.”So he left and did as the LORD had commanded.He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning,and bread and meat in the evening,and he drank from the stream. 

R. (see 2) Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;whence shall help come to me?My help is from the LORD,who made heaven and earth.R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.May he not suffer your foot to slip;may he slumber not who guards you:Indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,the guardian of Israel.R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade;he is beside you at your right hand.The sun shall not harm you by day,nor the moon by night.R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.The LORD will guard you from all evil;he will guard your life.The LORD will guard your coming and your going,both now and forever.R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Rejoice and be glad;for your reward will be great in heaven.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:“Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.Blessed are they who mourn,for they will be comforted.Blessed are the meek,for they will inherit the land.Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they will be satisfied.Blessed are the merciful,for they will be shown mercy.Blessed are the clean of heart,for they will see God.Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute youand utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.Rejoice and be glad,for your reward will be great in heaven.Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” 

Moses said to the people:"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,has directed all your journeying in the desert,so as to test you by afflictionand find out whether or not it was your intentionto keep his commandments. He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,and then fed you with manna,a food unknown to you and your fathers,in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD."Do not forget the LORD, your God,who brought you out of the land of Egypt,that place of slavery;who guided you through the vast and terrible desertwith its saraph serpents and scorpions,its parched and waterless ground;who brought forth water for you from the flinty rockand fed you in the desert with manna,a food unknown to your fathers." 

R. (12) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.or:R. Alleluia.Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;praise your God, O Zion.For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;he has blessed your children within you.R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.or:R. Alleluia.He has granted peace in your borders;with the best of wheat he fills you.He sends forth his command to the earth;swiftly runs his word!R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.or:R. Alleluia.He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.He has not done thus for any other nation;his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.or:R. Alleluia. 

Brothers and sisters:The cup of blessing that we bless,is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?The bread that we break,is it not a participation in the body of Christ?Because the loaf of bread is one,we, though many, are one body,for we all partake of the one loaf. 

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,Laud with hymns of exultation,Christ, your king and shepherd true:Bring him all the praise you know,He is more than you bestow.Never can you reach his due.Special theme for glad thanksgivingIs the quick'ning and the livingBread today before you set:From his hands of old partaken,As we know, by faith unshaken,Where the Twelve at supper met.Full and clear ring out your chanting,Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,From your heart let praises burst:For today the feast is holden,When the institution oldenOf that supper was rehearsed.Here the new law's new oblation,By the new king's revelation,Ends the form of ancient rite:Now the new the old effaces,Truth away the shadow chases,Light dispels the gloom of night.What he did at supper seated,Christ ordained to be repeated,His memorial ne'er to cease:And his rule for guidance taking,Bread and wine we hallow, makingThus our sacrifice of peace.This the truth each Christian learns,Bread into his flesh he turns,To his precious blood the wine:Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,But a dauntless faith believes,Resting on a pow'r divine.Here beneath these signs are hiddenPriceless things to sense forbidden;Signs, not things are all we see:Blood is poured and flesh is broken,Yet in either wondrous tokenChrist entire we know to be.Whoso of this food partakes,Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;Christ is whole to all that taste:Thousands are, as one, receivers,One, as thousands of believers,Eats of him who cannot waste.Bad and good the feast are sharing,Of what divers dooms preparing,Endless death, or endless life.Life to these, to those damnation,See how like participationIs with unlike issues rife.When the sacrament is broken,Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,That each sever'd outward tokendoth the very whole contain.Nought the precious gift divides,Breaking but the sign betidesJesus still the same abides,still unbroken does remain.The shorter form of the sequence begins here.Lo! the angel's food is givenTo the pilgrim who has striven;see the children's bread from heaven,which on dogs may not be spent.Truth the ancient types fulfilling,Isaac bound, a victim willing,Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,manna to the fathers sent.Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,Jesu, of your love befriend us,You refresh us, you defend us,Your eternal goodness send usIn the land of life to see.You who all things can and know,Who on earth such food bestow,Grant us with your saints, though lowest,Where the heav'nly feast you show,Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;whoever eats this bread will live forever.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;whoever eats this bread will live forever;and the bread that I will giveis my flesh for the life of the world."The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them,"Amen, amen, I say to you,unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my bloodhas eternal life,and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food,and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my bloodremains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent meand I have life because of the Father,so also the one who feeds on mewill have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,whoever eats this bread will live forever."