Daily Readings for Thursday March 29, 2012

Reading 1, Genesis 17:3-9

3 And Abram bowed to the ground. God spoke to him as follows,

4 'For my part, this is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.

5 And you are no longer to be called Abram; your name is to be Abraham, for I am making you father of many nations.

6 I shall make you exceedingly fertile. I shall make you into nations, and your issue will be kings.

7 And I shall maintain my covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as a covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

8 And to you and to your descendants after you, I shall give the country where you are now immigrants, the entire land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity. And I shall be their God.'

9 God further said to Abraham, 'You for your part must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

4 Seek Yahweh and his strength, tirelessly seek his presence!

5 Remember the marvels he has done, his wonders, the judgements he has spoken.

6 Stock of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob whom he chose!

7 He is Yahweh our God, his judgements touch the whole world.

8 He remembers his covenant for ever, the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,

9 which he concluded with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

Gospel, John 8:51-59

51 In all truth I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.

52 The Jews said, 'Now we know that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, "Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death."

53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?'

54 Jesus answered: If I were to seek my own glory my glory would be worth nothing; in fact, my glory is conferred by the Father, by the one of whom you say, 'He is our God,'

55 although you do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say, 'I do not know him,' I should be a liar, as you yourselves are. But I do know him, and I keep his word.

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.

57 The Jews then said, 'You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!'

58 Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I am.

59 At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple. 

Daily bible readings for tuesday march 27

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21 

2 Do not turn away your face from me when I am in trouble; bend down and listen to me, when I call, be quick to answer me!

3 For my days are vanishing like smoke, my bones burning like an oven;

16 when Yahweh builds Zion anew, he will be seen in his glory;

17 he will turn to hear the prayer of the destitute, and will not treat their prayer with scorn.

18 This shall be put on record for a future generation, and a people yet to be born shall praise God:

19 Yahweh has leaned down from the heights of his sanctuary, has looked down from heaven to earth,

20 to listen to the sighing of the captive, and set free those condemned to death,

21 to proclaim the name of Yahweh in Zion, his praise in Jerusalem;

Gospel, John 8:21-30

21 Again he said to them: I am going away; you will look for me and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.

22 So the Jews said to one another, 'Is he going to kill himself, that he says, "Where I am going, you cannot come?" '

23 Jesus went on: You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

24 I have told you already: You will die in your sins. Yes, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

25 So they said to him, 'Who are you?' Jesus answered: What I have told you from the outset.

26 About you I have much to say and much to judge; but the one who sent me is true, and what I declare to the world I have learnt from him.

27 They did not recognise that he was talking to them about the Father.

28 So Jesus said: When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of my own accord. What I say is what the Father has taught me;

29 he who sent me is with me, and has not left me to myself, for I always do what pleases him.

30 As he was saying this, many came to believe in him.

Daily Readings for Tuesday March 20, 2012

Reading 1, Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12

1 He brought me back to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream flowed eastwards from under the Temple threshold, for the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar.

2 He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side.

3 The man went off to the east holding his measuring line and measured off a thousand cubits; he then made me wade across the stream; the water reached my ankles.

4 He measured off another thousand and made me wade across the stream again; the water reached my knees. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across the stream again; the water reached my waist.

5 He measured off another thousand; it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross.

6 He then said, 'Do you see, son of man?' He then took me and brought me back to the bank on the river.

7 Now, when I reached it, I saw an enormous number of trees on each bank of the river.

8 He said, 'This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome.

9 Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows.

12 Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.'

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

2 so we shall not be afraid though the earth be in turmoil, though mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,

3 and its waters roar and seethe, and the mountains totter as it heaves. (Yahweh Sabaoth is with us, our citadel, the God of Jacob.)Pause

5 God is in the city, it cannot fall; at break of day God comes to its rescue.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms are tumbling, when he raises his voice the earth crumbles away.

8 Come, consider the wonders of Yahweh, the astounding deeds he has done on the earth;

9 he puts an end to wars over the whole wide world, he breaks the bow, he snaps the spear, shields he burns in the fire.

Gospel, John 5:1-3, 5-16

1 After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem next to the Sheep Pool there is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticos;

3 and under these were crowds of sick people, blind, lame, paralysed.

5 One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years,

6 and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in that condition for a long time, he said, 'Do you want to be well again?'

7 'Sir,' replied the sick man, 'I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets down there before me.'

8 Jesus said, 'Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk around.'

9 The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and started to walk around. Now that day happened to be the Sabbath,

10 so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, 'It is the Sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.'

11 He replied, 'But the man who cured me told me, "Pick up your sleeping-mat and walk around." '

12 They asked, 'Who is the man who said to you, "Pick up your sleeping-mat and walk around"? '

13 The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared, as the place was crowded.

14 After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, 'Now you are well again, do not sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.'

15 The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him.

16 It was because he did things like this on the Sabbath that the Jews began to harass Jesus.

Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday March 14, 2012

Reading 1, Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

1 'And now, Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observing them, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you.

5 Look: as Yahweh my God commanded me, I have taught you laws and customs, for you to observe in the country of which you are going to take possession.

6 Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Once they know what all these laws are, they will exclaim, "No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!"

7 And indeed, what great nation has its gods as near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever we call to him?

8 And what great nation has laws and customs as upright as the entirety of this Law which I am laying down for you today?

9 'But take care, as you value your lives! Do not forget the things which you yourselves have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live; teach them, rather, to your children and to your children's children.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20

12 Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem, Zion, praise your God.

13 For he gives strength to the bars of your gates, he blesses your children within you,

15 He sends his word to the earth, his command runs quickly,

16 he spreads the snow like flax, strews hoarfrost like ashes,

19 He reveals his word to Jacob, his statutes and judgements to Israel.

20 For no other nation has he done this, no other has known his judgements.

Gospel, Matthew 5:17-19

17 'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.

18 In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved.

19 Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven. 

Daily Readings for Thursday March 08, 2012

Reading 1, Jeremiah 17:5-10

5 Yahweh says this, 'Accursed be anyone who trusts in human beings, who relies on human strength and whose heart turns from Yahweh.

6 Such a person is like scrub in the wastelands: when good comes, it does not affect him since he lives in the parched places of the desert, uninhabited, salt land.

7 'Blessed is anyone who trusts in Yahweh, with Yahweh to rely on.

8 Such a person is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream: when the heat comes it has nothing to fear, its foliage stays green; untroubled in a year of drought, it never stops bearing fruit.

9 'The heart is more devious than any other thing, and is depraved; who can pierce its secrets?

10 I, Yahweh, search the heart, test the motives, to give each person what his conduct and his actions deserve.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

1 How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked and does not take a stand in the path that sinners tread, nor a seat in company with cynics,

2 but who delights in the law of Yahweh and murmurs his law day and night.

3 Such a one is like a tree planted near streams; it bears fruit in season and its leaves never wither, and every project succeeds.

4 How different the wicked, how different! Just like chaff blown around by the wind

6 For Yahweh watches over the path of the upright, but the path of the wicked is doomed.

Gospel, Luke 16:19-31

19 'There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day.

20 And at his gate there used to lie a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores,

21 who longed to fill himself with what fell from the rich man's table. Even dogs came and licked his sores.

22 Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's embrace. The rich man also died and was buried.

23 'In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his embrace.

24 So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames."

25 Abraham said, "My son, remember that during your life you had your fill of good things, just as Lazarus his fill of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony.

26 But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to prevent those who want to cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours."

27 'So he said, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house,

28 since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too."

29 Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them."

30 The rich man replied, "Ah no, father Abraham, but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent."

31 Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead."

Daily Readings for Wednesday March 07, 2012

Reading 1, Jeremiah 18:18-20

18 'Come on,' they said, 'let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah, for the Law will not perish for lack of priests, nor advice for lack of wise men, nor the word for lack of prophets. Come on, let us slander him and pay no attention to anything he says.'

19 Pay attention to me, Yahweh, hear what my adversaries are saying.

20 Should evil be returned for good? Now they are digging a pit for me. Remember how I pleaded before you and spoke good of them, to turn your retribution away from them.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 31:5-6, 14, 15-16

5 to your hands I commit my spirit, by you have I been redeemed. God of truth,

6 you hate those who serve useless idols; but my trust is in Yahweh:

14 But my trust is in you, Yahweh; I say, 'You are my God,'

15 every moment of my life is in your hands, rescue me from the clutches of my foes who pursue me;

16 let your face shine on your servant, save me in your faithful love.

Gospel, Matthew 20:17-28

17 Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the road he took the Twelve aside by themselves and said to them,

18 'Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death

19 and will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised up again.'

20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low;

21 and he said to her, 'What is it you want?' She said to him, 'Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.'

22 Jesus answered, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?' They replied, 'We can.'

23 He said to them, 'Very well; you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.'

24 When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers.

25 But Jesus called them to him and said, 'You know that among the gentiles the rulers lord it over them, and great men make their authority felt.

26 Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant,

27 and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave,

28 just as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'