Daily Readings

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem:By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan;your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.As for your birth, the day you were born your navel cord was not cut;you were neither washed with water nor anointed,nor were you rubbed with salt, nor swathed in swaddling clothes.No one looked on you with pity or compassionto do any of these things for you.Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome,the day you were born.Then I passed by and saw you weltering in your blood.I said to you: Live in your blood and grow like a plant in the field.You grew and developed, you came to the age of puberty;your breasts were formed, your hair had grown,but you were still stark naked.Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old enough for love.So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover your nakedness;I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you;you became mine, says the Lord GOD.Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood,and anointed you with oil.I clothed you with an embroidered gown,put sandals of fine leather on your feet;I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms, a necklace about your neck, a ring in your nose,pendants in your ears, and a glorious diadem upon your head.Thus you were adorned with gold and silver;your garments were of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth.Fine flour, honey, and oil were your food.You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of a queen.You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was,because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you,says the Lord GOD. But you were captivated by your own beauty,you used your renown to make yourself a harlot,and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by,whose own you became.Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you,that you may remember and be covered with confusion,and that you may be utterly silenced for shamewhen I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD. 

Thus says the LORD:I will deal with you according to what you have done,you who despised your oath, breaking a covenant.Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.Then you shall remember your conduct and be ashamedwhen I take your sisters, those older and younger than you,and give them to you as daughters,even though I am not bound by my covenant with you.For I will re-establish my covenant with you,that you may know that I am the LORD,that you may remember and be covered with confusion,and that you may be utterly silenced for shamewhen I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD. 

R. (1c) You have turned from your anger.God indeed is my savior;I am confident and unafraid.My strength and my courage is the LORD,and he has been my savior.With joy you will draw waterat the fountain of salvation.R. You have turned from your anger.Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;among the nations make known his deeds,proclaim how exalted is his name.R. You have turned from your anger.Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;let this be known throughout all the earth.Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,for great in your midstis the Holy One of Israel!R. You have turned from your anger. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,but, as it truly is, the word of God.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginningthe Creator made them male and female and said,For this reason a man shall leave his father and motherand be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?So they are no longer two, but one flesh.Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses commandthat the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?"He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heartsMoses allowed you to divorce your wives,but from the beginning it was not so.I say to you, whoever divorces his wife(unless the marriage is unlawful)and marries another commits adultery."His disciples said to him,"If that is the case of a man with his wife,it is better not to marry."He answered, "Not all can accept this word,but only those to whom that is granted.Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;some, because they were made so by others;some, because they have renounced marriagefor the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.Whoever can accept this ought to accept it." 

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house;they have eyes to see but do not see,and ears to hear but do not hear,for they are a rebellious house.Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on,prepare your baggage as though for exile, and again while they are looking on,migrate from where you live to another place;perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime while they are looking on;in the evening, again while they are looking on,you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness;cover your face that you may not see the land,for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.

I did as I was told.During the day I brought out my baggageas though it were that of an exile,and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my handand, while they looked on, set out in the darkness,shouldering my burden.

Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house,ask you what you were doing?Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD:This oracle concerns Jerusalemand the whole house of Israel within it.I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them;as captives they shall go into exile.The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burdenand set out in darkness,going through a hole he has dug out in the wall,and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.

R. (see 7b)  Do not forget the works of the Lord!They tempted and rebelled against God the Most High,and kept not his decrees.They turned back and were faithless like their fathers;they recoiled like a treacherous bow.R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!They angered him with their high placesand with their idols roused his jealousy.God heard and was enragedand utterly rejected Israel.R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!And he surrendered his strength into captivity,his glory in the hands of the foe.He abandoned his people to the swordand was enraged against his inheritance.R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Let your countenance shine upon your servantand teach me your statutes.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,“Lord, if my brother sins against me,how often must I forgive him?As many as seven times?”Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a kingwho decided to settle accounts with his servants.When he began the accounting,a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.Since he had no way of paying it back,his master ordered him to be sold,along with his wife, his children, and all his property,in payment of the debt.At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’Moved with compassion the master of that servantlet him go and forgave him the loan.When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servantswho owed him a much smaller amount.He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,‘Pay back what you owe.’Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’But he refused.Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prisonuntil he paid back the debt.Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,they were deeply disturbed,and went to their master and reported the whole affair.His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,as I had pity on you?’Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturersuntil he should pay back the whole debt.So will my heavenly Father do to you,unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galileeand went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

The LORD cried loud for me to hear:Come, you scourges of the city!With that I saw six men coming from the directionof the upper gate which faces the north,each with a destroying weapon in his hand.In their midst was a man dressed in linen,with a writer’s case at his waist.They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.Then he called to the man dressed in linenwith the writer’s case at his waist, saying to him:Pass through the city, through Jerusalem,and mark a “Thau” on the foreheads of those who moan and groanover all the abominations that are practiced within it.To the others I heard the LORD say:Pass through the city after him and strike!Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy!Old men, youths and maidens, women and children–wipe them out!But do not touch any marked with the “Thau”; begin at my sanctuary.So they began with the men, the elders, who were in front of the temple.Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain;then go out and strike in the city.

Then the glory of the LORD left the threshold of the templeand rested upon the cherubim.These lifted their wings, and I saw them rise from the earth,the wheels rising along with them.They stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the Lord’s house,and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them.Then the cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels went along with them,while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.

R. (4b)  The glory of the Lord is higher than the skies.or:R. Alleluia.Praise, you servants of the LORD,praise the name of the LORD.Blessed be the name of the LORDboth now and forever.R. The glory of the Lord is higher than the skies.or:R.  Alleluia.From the rising to the setting of the sunis the name of the LORD to be praised.High above all nations is the LORD;above the heavens is his glory.R. The glory of the Lord is higher than the skies.or:R. Alleluia.Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high,and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?R. The glory of the Lord is higher than the skies.or:R. Alleluia.

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

Jesus said to his disciples:"If your brother sins against you,go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.If he does not listen,take one or two others along with you,so that  every fact may be establishedon the testimony of two or three witnesses.If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.If he refuses to listen even to the Church,then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.Amen, I say to you,whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earthabout anything for which they are to pray,it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.For where two or three are gathered together in my name,there am I in the midst of them."