First Reading

Book of Genesis (Gn 17: 3-9)

You shall be the father of a multitude of Nations.

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:

“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham:

“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm (Ps 105: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9)

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

Gospel

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 8: 51-59)

Your father Abraham rejoice that he was to see my day.

Jesus said to the Jews:

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

So the Jews said to him,

“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered,

“If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”

So the Jews said to him,

“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of the Prophet Daniel (Dn 3: 14-20, 91-92, 95)

He has sent his angel and delivered his servants.

King Nebuchadnezzar said:

“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,

“There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,

“Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”

“Assuredly, O king”, they answered.

“But”, he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,

“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

(Dan 3: 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)

Glory and praise for ever!

“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.”

“Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”

“Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”

“Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”

“Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.”

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 8: 31-42)

If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him,

“We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

They answered and said to him,

“Our father is Abraham.”

Jesus said to them,

“If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”

So they said to him,

“We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God.”

Jesus said to them,

“If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Numbers (Nm 21: 4-9)

One who is bitten, who sees the serpent, shall live.

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,

“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,

“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”

So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,

“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”

Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm (Ps 102: 2-3, 16-18, 19-21)

O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.

The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.

Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”

Gospel

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live for ever.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 8: 21-30)

When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he.

Jesus said to the Pharisees:

“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”

So the Jews said,

“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”

He said to them,

“You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”

So they said to him,

“Who are you?”

Jesus said to them,

“What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”

They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,

“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”

Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

— The Gospel of the Lord.