First Reading

Book of the Prophet Daniel (Dn 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62)

Now I am to die, yet I have done none of these things.

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 daughter
according to the law of Moses.
Joakim was very rich;
he had a garden near his house,
and the Jews had recourse to him often
because 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 you
that 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 guilt
than 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 up
and 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 girls
and 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 hidden
and 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 things
with 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 examination
and 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 him
and 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 two
so 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 them
the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:
they put them to death.
Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

— The word of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of the Prophet Daniel (Dn 13: 41c-62)

Now I am to die, yet I have done none of these things.

The assembly condemned Susanna to death.

But Susanna cried aloud:

“O eternal God, you know what is hidden
and 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 things
with 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 examination
and 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 him
and 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 two
so 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 them
the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:
they put them to death.
Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm (Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6)

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.

He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

Gospel

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

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

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 8: 1-11)

Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.

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.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Jeremiah (Jer 31: 31-34)

I will make a new covenant and remember their sin no more.

The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 51: 3-4, 12-13, 14-15

Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.

Second Reading

Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 5: 7-9)

He learned obedience and became the source of eternal salvation.

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

— The word of the Lord.

Gospel

Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there also will my servant be.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 12: 20-33)

If a grain of wheat falls to the ground dies, it produces much fruit.

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him,

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven,

“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”

The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said,

“An angel has spoken to him.”

Jesus answered and said,

“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”

He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Jeremiah (Jer 11: 18-20)

I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.

I knew their plot because the LORD informed me;
at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.

Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:

“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more.”

But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm (Ps 7: 2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12)

O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.

Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.

A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.

Gospel

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 7: 40-53)

Is the Christ to come from Galilee.

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,

“This is truly the Prophet.”

Others said,

“This is the Christ.”

But others said,

“The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them,

“Why did you not bring him?”

The guards answered,

“Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”

So the Pharisees answered them,

“Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”

Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,

“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him,

“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Then each went to his own house.

— The Gospel of the Lord.