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.

First Reading

The Book of Isaiah (Is 40: 1-11)

God comforts his people.

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

A voice says,

“Cry out!”

I answer,

“What shall I cry out?”

“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 96: 1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13

The Lord our God comes with power.

Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.

Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The Lord is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.

They shall exult before the Lord, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

The day of the Lord is near; Behold, he comes to save us.

Alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 18: 12-14)

It is not the will of God that one of these little ones be lost.

Jesus said to his disciples:

“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.