Daily Reading for Tuesday, June 1st, 2021

Reading 1, Tobit 3:1-11, 16

⁹ That night I took a bath; then I went into the courtyard and lay down by the courtyard wall. Since it was hot I left my face uncovered.

¹⁰ I did not know that there were sparrows in the wall above my head; their hot droppings fell into my eyes. This caused white spots to form, which I went to have treated by the doctors. But the more ointments they tried me with, the more the spots blinded me, and in the end, I become completely blind. I remained without sight four years; all my brothers were distressed on my behalf; and Ahikar provided for my upkeep for two years, until he left for Elymais.

¹¹ My wife Anna then undertook woman's work; she would spin wool and take cloth to weave;

¹² she used to deliver whatever had been ordered from her and then receive payment. Now on the seventh day of the month of Dystros, she finished a piece of work and delivered it to her customers. They paid her all that was due, and into the bargain presented her with a kid for a meal.

¹³ When the kid came into my house, it began to bleat. I called to my wife and said, 'Where does this creature come from? Suppose it has been stolen! Let the owners have it back; we have no right to eat stolen goods'.

¹⁴ She said, 'No, it was a present given me over and above my wages.' I did not believe her, and told her to give it back to the owners (I felt deeply ashamed of her). To which, she replied, 'What about your own alms? What about your own good works? Everyone knows what return you have had for them.'

¹ Then, sad at heart, I sighed and wept, and began this prayer of lamentation:

² You are just, O Lord, and just are all your works. All your ways are grace and truth, and you are the Judge of the world.

³ Therefore, Lord, remember me, look on me. Do not punish me for my sins or for my needless faults or those of my ancestors.

⁴ For we have sinned against you and broken your commandments; and you have given us over to be plundered, to captivity and death, to be the talk, the laughing-stock and scorn of all the nations among whom you have dispersed us.

⁵ And now all your decrees are true when you deal with me as my faults deserve, and those of my ancestors. For we have neither kept your commandments nor walked in truth before you.

⁶ So now, do with me as you will; be pleased to take my life from me; so that I may be delivered from earth and become earth again. Better death than life for me, for I have endured groundless insult and am in deepest sorrow. Lord, be pleased to deliver me from this affliction. Let me go away to my everlasting home; do not turn your face from me, O Lord. Better death for me than life prolonged in the face of unrelenting misery: I can no longer bear to listen to insults.

⁷ It chanced on the same day that Sarah the daughter of Raguel, who lived in Media at Ecbatana, also heard insults from one of her father's maids.

⁸ For she had been given in marriage seven times, and Asmodeus, the worst of demons, had killed her bridegrooms one after another before ever they had slept with her as man with wife. The servant-girl said, 'Yes, you kill your bridegrooms yourself. That makes seven already to whom you have been given, and you have not once been in luck yet.

⁹ Just because your bridegrooms have died, that is no reason for punishing us. Go and join them, and may we be spared the sight of any child of yours!'

¹⁰ That day, she grieved, she sobbed, and she went up to her father's room intending to hang herself. But then she thought, 'Suppose they were to blame my father! They would say, "You had an only daughter whom you loved, and now she has hanged herself for grief." I cannot cause my father a sorrow which would bring down his old age to the dwelling of the dead. I should do better not to hang myself, but to beg the Lord to let my die and not live to hear any more insults.'

¹¹ And at this, by the window, with outstretched arms she said this prayer: You are blessed, O God of mercy! May your name be blessed for ever, and may all things you have made bless you everlastingly.

¹⁶ This time the prayer of each of them found favour before the glory of God,

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 112:1-2, 7-8, 9

¹ Alleluia! How blessed is anyone who fears Yahweh, who delights in his commandments!

² His descendants shall be powerful on earth, the race of the honest shall receive blessings:

⁷ Bad news holds no fears for him, firm is his heart, trusting in Yahweh.

⁸ His heart held steady, he has no fears, till he can gloat over his enemies.

⁹ To the needy he gives without stint, his uprightness stands firm for ever; his reputation is founded on strength.