Daily Readings

The LORD spoke to Nathan and said:"Go, tell my servant David,'When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,and I will make his kingdom firm.It is he who shall build a house for my name.And I will make his royal throne firm forever.I will be a father to him,and he shall be a son to me.Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;your throne shall stand firm forever.'"

R. (37)  The son of David will live for ever.The promises of the LORD I will sing forever;through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness,For you have said, "My kindness is established forever";in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.R. The son of David will live for ever."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. The son of David will live for ever."He shall say of me, 'You are my father,my God, the Rock, my savior.'Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,and my covenant with him stands firm."R. The son of David will live for ever.

Brothers and sisters: It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, I have made you father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, O Lord; they never cease to praise you.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.

Thus says the LORD:In a time of favor I answer you,on the day of salvation I help you;and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people,To restore the landand allot the desolate heritages,Saying to the prisoners: Come out!To those in darkness: Show yourselves!Along the ways they shall find pasture,on every bare height shall their pastures be.They shall not hunger or thirst,nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them;For he who pities them leads themand guides them beside springs of water.I will cut a road through all my mountains,and make my highways level.See, some shall come from afar,others from the north and the west,and some from the land of Syene.Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,break forth into song, you mountains.For the LORD comforts his peopleand shows mercy to his afflicted.But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;my Lord has forgotten me."Can a mother forget her infant,be without tenderness for the child of her womb?Even should she forget,I will never forget you. 

R. (8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful.The LORD is gracious and merciful,slow to anger and of great kindness.The LORD is good to alland compassionate toward all his works.R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.The LORD is faithful in all his wordsand holy in all his works.The LORD lifts up all who are fallingand raises up all who are bowed down.R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.The LORD is just in all his waysand holy in all his works.The LORD is near to all who call upon him,to all who call upon him in truth.R. The Lord is gracious and merciful. 

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;whoever believes in me will never die. 

Jesus answered the Jews: "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work."For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,because he not only broke the sabbathbut he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.Jesus answered and said to them,"Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,but only what he sees the Father doing;for what he does, the Son will do also.For the Father loves the Sonand shows him everything that he himself does,and he will show him greater works than these,so that you may be amazed.For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.Nor does the Father judge anyone,but he has given all judgment to the Son,so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.Whoever does not honor the Sondoes not honor the Father who sent him.Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my wordand believes in the one who sent mehas eternal life and will not come to condemnation,but has passed from death to life.Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now herewhen the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,and those who hear will live.For just as the Father has life in himself,so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.And he gave him power to exercise judgment,because he is the Son of Man.Do not be amazed at this,because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombswill hear his voice and will come out,those who have done good deedsto the resurrection of life,but those who have done wicked deedsto the resurrection of condemnation."I cannot do anything on my own;I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,because I do not seek my own willbut the will of the one who sent me." 

The angel brought me, Ezekiel,back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,and I saw water flowing outfrom beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,for the façade of the temple was toward the east;the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,south of the altar.He led me outside by the north gate,and around to the outer gate facing the east,where I saw water trickling from the right side.Then when he had walked off to the eastwith a measuring cord in his hand,he measured off a thousand cubitsand had me wade through the water, which was ankle-deep.He measured off another thousandand once more had me wade through the water,which was now knee-deep.Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;the water was up to my waist.Once more he measured off a thousand,but there was now a river through which I could not wade;for the water had risen so high it had become a riverthat could not be crossed except by swimming.He asked me, "Have you seen this, son of man?"Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.He said to me,"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. Wherever the river flows,every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,and there shall be abundant fish,for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine." 

R. (8) The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. God is our refuge and our strength,an ever-present help in distress.Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shakenand mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,the holy dwelling of the Most High.God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;God will help it at the break of dawn.R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. The LORD of hosts is with us;our stronghold is the God of Jacob.Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,the astounding things he has wrought on earth.R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.  

A clean heart create for me, O God;give me back the joy of your salvation. 

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gatea pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.When Jesus saw him lying thereand knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,"Do you want to be well?"The sick man answered him,"Sir, I have no one to put me into the poolwhen the water is stirred up;while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me."Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.Now that day was a sabbath.So the Jews said to the man who was cured,"It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." He answered them, "The man who made me well told me,'Take up your mat and walk.'"They asked him,"Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"The man who was healed did not know who it was,for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,so that nothing worse may happen to you."The man went and told the Jewsthat Jesus was the one who had made him well.Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesusbecause he did this on a sabbath.