Daily Readings

Jeremiah said:"I hear the whisperings of many:'Terror on every side!Denounce! let us denounce him!'All those who were my friendsare on the watch for any misstep of mine.'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,and take our vengeance on him.'But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.In their failure they will be put to utter shame,to lasting, unforgettable confusion.O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,who probe mind and heart,let me witness the vengeance you take on them,for to you I have entrusted my cause.Sing to the LORD,praise the LORD,for he has rescued the life of the poorfrom the power of the wicked!" 

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.For your sake I bear insult,and shame covers my face.I have become an outcast to my brothers,a stranger to my mother's children,Because zeal for your house consumes me,and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.I pray to you, O LORD,for the time of your favor, O God!In your great kindness answer mewith your constant help.Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;in your great mercy turn toward me.R. Lord, in your great love, answer me."See, you lowly ones, and be glad;you who seek God, may your hearts revive!For the LORD hears the poor,and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.Let the heavens and the earth praise him,the seas and whatever moves in them!''R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Brothers and sisters:Through one man sin entered the world,and through sin, death,and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,though sin is not accounted when there is no law.But death reigned from Adam to Moses,even over those who did not sinafter the pattern of the trespass of Adam,who is the type of the one who was to come.But the gift is not like the transgression.For if by the transgression of the one the many died,how much more did the grace of Godand the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christoverflow for the many. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord;and you also will testify.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus said to the Twelve:"Fear no one.Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,nor secret that will not be known.What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;rather, be afraid of the one who can destroyboth soul and body in Gehenna.Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge.Even all the hairs of your head are counted.So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.Everyone who acknowledges me before othersI will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.But whoever denies me before others,I will deny before my heavenly Father." 

After the death of Jehoiada,the princes of Judah came and paid homage to King Joash,and the king then listened to them.They forsook the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers,and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols;and because of this crime of theirs,wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.Although prophets were sent to them to convert them to the LORD,the people would not listen to their warnings.Then the Spirit of God possessed Zechariah,son of Jehoiada the priest.He took his stand above the people and said to them:"God says, 'Why are you transgressing the LORD's commands,so that you cannot prosper?Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.'"But they conspired against him,and at the king's order they stoned him to deathin the court of the LORD's temple.Thus King Joash was unmindful of the devotion shown himby Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, and slew his son.And as Zechariah was dying, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge."At the turn of the year a force of Arameans came up against Joash.They invaded Judah and Jerusalem,did away with all the princes of the people,and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.Though the Aramean force came with few men,the LORD surrendered a very large force into their power,because Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers.So punishment was meted out to Joash.After the Arameans had departed from him,leaving him in grievous suffering,his servants conspired against himbecause of the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest.He was buried in the City of David,but not in the tombs of the kings. 

R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant."I have made a covenant with my chosen one,I have sworn to David my servant:Forever will I confirm your posterityand establish your throne for all generations."R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant."Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,and my covenant with him stands firm.I will make his posterity endure foreverand his throne as the days of heaven."R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant."If his sons forsake my lawand walk not according to my ordinances,If they violate my statutesand keep not my commands."R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant."I will punish their crime with a rodand their guilt with stripes.Yet my mercy I will not take from him,nor will I belie my faithfulness."R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich,so that by his poverty you might become rich.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus said to his disciples:"No one can serve two masters.He will either hate one and love the other,or be devoted to one and despise the other.You cannot serve God and mammon."Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,what you will eat or drink,or about your body, what you will wear.Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds in the sky;they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are not you more important than they?Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?Why are you anxious about clothes?Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.They do not work or spin.But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendorwas clothed like one of them.If God so clothes the grass of the field,which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?'or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'All these things the pagans seek.Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these things will be given you besides.Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.Sufficient for a day is its own evil." 

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah,saw that her son was dead,she began to kill off the whole royal family.But Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah,took Joash, his son, and spirited him away, along with his nurse,from the bedroom where the princes were about to be slain.She concealed him from Athaliah, and so he did not die.For six years he remained hidden in the temple of the LORD,while Athaliah ruled the land.But in the seventh year,Jehoiada summoned the captains of the Cariansand of the guards.He had them come to him in the temple of the LORD,exacted from them a sworn commitment,and then showed them the king’s son.The captains did just as Jehoiada the priest commanded.Each one with his men, both those going on duty for the sabbathand those going off duty that week,came to Jehoiada the priest.He gave the captains King David’s spears and shields,which were in the temple of the LORD.And the guards, with drawn weapons,lined up from the southern to the northern limit of the enclosure,surrounding the altar and the temple on the king’s behalf.Then Jehoiada led out the king’s sonand put the crown and the insignia upon him.They proclaimed him king and anointed him,clapping their hands and shouting, “Long live the king!”Athaliah heard the noise made by the people,and appeared before them in the temple of the LORD.When she saw the king standing by the pillar, as was the custom,and the captains and trumpeters near him,with all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets,she tore her garments and cried out, “Treason, treason!”Then Jehoiada the priest instructed the captainsin command of the force:“Bring her outside through the ranks.If anyone follows her,” he added, “let him die by the sword.”He had given orders that sheshould not be slain in the temple of the LORD.She was led out forcibly to the horse gate of the royal palace,where she was put to death.Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD as one partyand the king and the people as the other,by which they would be the LORD’s people;and another covenant, between the king and the people.Thereupon all the people of the land went to the temple of Baaland demolished it.They shattered its altars and images completely,and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars.Jehoiada appointed a detachment for the temple of the LORD.All the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet,now that Athaliah had been slain with the swordat the royal palace. 

R. (13) The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.The LORD swore to Davida firm promise from which he will not withdraw:“Your own offspringI will set upon your throne.”R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.“If your sons keep my covenantand the decrees which I shall teach them,Their sons, too, forevershall sit upon your throne.”R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.For the LORD has chosen Zion;he prefers her for his dwelling.“Zion is my resting place forever;in her will I dwell, for I prefer her.”R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.“In her will I make a horn to sprout forth for David;I will place a lamp for my anointed.His enemies I will clothe with shame,but upon him my crown shall shine.”R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are the poor in spirit;for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.But store up treasures in heaven,where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.“The lamp of the body is the eye.If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light;but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”