Daily Readings

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.

In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim,who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna,the daughter of Hilkiah;her pious parents had trained their daughteraccording to the law of Moses.Joakim was very rich;he had a garden near his house,and the Jews had recourse to him oftenbecause he was the most respected of them all.

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges,of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon:from the elders who were to govern the people as judges.”These men, to whom all brought their cases,frequented the house of Joakim.When the people left at noon,Susanna used to enter her husband’s garden for a walk.When the old men saw her enter every day for her walk,they began to lust for her.They suppressed their consciences;they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven,and did not keep in mind just judgments.

One day, while they were waiting for the right moment,she entered the garden as usual, with two maids only.She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm.Nobody else was there except the two elders,who had hidden themselves and were watching her.“Bring me oil and soap,” she said to the maids,“and shut the garden doors while I bathe.”

As soon as the maids had left,the two old men got up and hurried to her.“Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us;give in to our desire, and lie with us.If you refuse, we will testify against youthat you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”

“I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned.“If I yield, it will be my death;if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guiltthan to sin before the Lord.”Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her,as one of them ran to open the garden doors.When the people in the house heard the cries from the garden,they rushed in by the side gate to see what had happened to her.At the accusations by the old men,the servants felt very much ashamed,for never had any such thing been said about Susanna.

When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day,the two wicked elders also came,fully determined to put Susanna to death.Before all the people they ordered:“Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah,the wife of Joakim.”When she was sent for,she came with her parents, children and all her relatives.All her relatives and the onlookers were weeping.

In the midst of the people the two elders rose upand laid their hands on her head.Through tears she looked up to heaven,for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly.The elders made this accusation:“As we were walking in the garden alone,this woman entered with two girlsand shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls.A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her.When we, in a corner of the garden, saw this crime,we ran toward them.We saw them lying together,but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we;he opened the doors and ran off.Then we seized her and asked who the young man was,but she refused to tell us.We testify to this.”The assembly believed them,since they were elders and judges of the people,and they condemned her to death.

But Susanna cried aloud:“O eternal God, you know what is hiddenand are aware of all things before they come to be:you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die,though I have done none of the thingswith which these wicked men have charged me.”

The Lord heard her prayer.As she was being led to execution,God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel,and he cried aloud:“I will have no part in the death of this woman.”All the people turned and asked him, “What is this you are saying?”He stood in their midst and continued,“Are you such fools, O children of Israel! To condemn a woman of Israel without examinationand without clear evidence?Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.”

Then all the people returned in haste.To Daniel the elders said,“Come, sit with us and inform us,since God has given you the prestige of old age.”But he replied,“Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.”

After they were separated one from the other,he called one of them and said:“How you have grown evil with age!Now have your past sins come to term:passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent,and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says,‘The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.’Now, then, if you were a witness,tell me under what tree you saw them together.”“Under a mastic tree,” he answered.Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head,for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from himand split you in two.”Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought.Daniel said to him,“Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you,lust has subverted your conscience.This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel,and in their fear they yielded to you;but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness.Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.”“Under an oak,” he said.Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head,for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in twoso as to make an end of you both.”

The whole assembly cried aloud,blessing God who saves those who hope in him.They rose up against the two elders,for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury.According to the law of Moses,they inflicted on themthe penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:they put them to death.Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

OR:

The assembly condemned Susanna to death.

But Susanna cried aloud:“O eternal God, you know what is hiddenand are aware of all things before they come to be:you know that they have testified falsely against me.Here I am about to die,though I have done none of the thingswith which these wicked men have charged me.”

The Lord heard her prayer.As she was being led to execution,God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel,and he cried aloud:“I will have no part in the death of this woman.”All the people turned and asked him,“What is this you are saying?”He stood in their midst and continued,“Are you such fools, O children of Israel!To condemn a woman of Israel without examinationand without clear evidence?Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.”

Then all the people returned in haste.To Daniel the elders said,“Come, sit with us and inform us,since God has given you the prestige of old age.”But he replied,“Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.”

After they were separated one from the other,he called one of them and said:“How you have grown evil with age!Now have your past sins come to term:passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent,and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says,‘The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.’ Now, then, if you were a witness,tell me under what tree you saw them together.”“Under a mastic tree,” he answered.Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head,for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from himand split you in two.”Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought. Daniel said to him, “Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah,beauty has seduced you, lust has subverted your conscience.This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel,and in their fear they yielded to you;but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness.Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.”“Under an oak,” he said.Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head,”for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in twoso as to make an end of you both.”

The whole assembly cried aloud,blessing God who saves those who hope in him.They rose up against the two elders,for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury.According to the law of Moses,they inflicted on themthe penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:they put them to death.Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

R. (4ab) Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.In verdant pastures he gives me repose;Beside restful waters he leads me;he refreshes my soul.R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.He guides me in right pathsfor his name’s sake.Even though I walk in the dark valleyI fear no evil; for you are at my sideWith your rod and your staffthat give me courage.R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.You spread the table before mein the sight of my foes;You anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.Only goodness and kindness follow meall the days of my life;And I shall dwell in the house of the LORDfor years to come.R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord,but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.They said to him,“Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.So what do you say?”They said this to test him,so that they could have some charge to bring against him.Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.But when they continued asking him,he straightened up and said to them,“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.And in response, they went away one by one,beginning with the elders.So he was left alone with the woman before him.Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,“Woman, where are they?Has no one condemned you?”She replied, “No one, sir.”Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”