First Reading

The Book of Isaiah (Is 48: 17-19)

If you would hearken to my commandments.

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the Lord, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1: 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the Lord
and meditates on his law day and night.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the Lord watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

The Lord will come; go out to meet him! He is the prince of peace.

Alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 11: 16-19)

They don't listen to John or the Son of Man.

Jesus said to the crowds:

“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

— Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

The Book of Isaiah (Is 41: 13-20)

Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

I am the Lord, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you,

“Fear not, I will help you.”

Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the Lord;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the Lord,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145: 1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab

The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The Lord is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.

Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.

Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.

Alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 11: 11-15)

There has been none greater than John the Baptist.

Jesus said to the crowds:

“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

— Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

The Book of Isaiah (Is 40: 25-31)

The Lord gives strength to the weary man.

To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
and see who has created these things:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!
Why, O Jacob, do you say,
and declare, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know
or have you not heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
He gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10

O bless the Lord, my soul!

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.

Merciful and gracious is the Lord,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Behold, the Lord comes to save his people; blessed are those prepared to meet him.

Alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 11: 28-30)

Come to me, all you who labor.

Jesus said to the crowds:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.