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Daily Reading for Thursday, December 16th, 2021

Daily Reading for Thursday December 16, 2021

Reading 1, Isaiah 54:1-10
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
Gospel, Luke 7:24-30
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Reading 1, Isaiah 54:1-10

1 Shout for joy, barren one who has borne no children! Break into cries and shouts of joy, you who were never in labour! For the children of the forsaken one are more in number than the children of the wedded wife, says Yahweh.

2 Widen the space of your tent, extend the curtains of your home, do not hold back! Lengthen your ropes, make your tent-pegs firm,

3 for you will burst out to right and to left, your race will dispossess the nations and repopulate deserted towns.

4 Do not fear, you will not be put to shame again, do not worry, you will not be disgraced again; for you will forget the shame of your youth and no longer remember the dishonour of your widowhood.

5 For your Creator is your husband, Yahweh Sabaoth is his name, the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer, he is called God of the whole world.

6 Yes, Yahweh has called you back like a forsaken, grief-stricken wife, like the repudiated wife of his youth, says your God.

7 I did forsake you for a brief moment, but in great compassion I shall take you back.

8 In a flood of anger, for a moment I hid my face from you. But in everlasting love I have taken pity on you, says Yahweh, your redeemer.

9 For me it will be as in the days of Noah when I swore that Noah's waters should never flood the world again. So now I swear never to be angry with you and never to rebuke you again.

10 For the mountains may go away and the hills may totter, but my faithful love will never leave you, my covenant of peace will never totter, says Yahweh who takes pity on you.


Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13

2 Yahweh, my God, I cried to you for help and you healed me.

4 Make music for Yahweh, all you who are faithful to him, praise his unforgettable holiness.

5 His anger lasts but a moment, his favour through life; In the evening come tears, but with dawn cries of joy.

6 Carefree, I used to think, 'Nothing can ever shake me!'

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing, you have stripped off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

12 So my heart will sing to you unceasingly, Yahweh, my God, I shall praise you for ever.


Gospel, Luke 7:24-30

24 When John's messengers had gone he began to talk to the people about John,

25 'What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No! Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who go in magnificent clothes and live luxuriously are to be found at royal courts!

26 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet:

27 he is the one of whom scripture says: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you.

28 'I tell you, of all the children born to women, there is no one greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.'

29 All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God's saving justice by accepting baptism from John;

30 but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers thwarted God's plan for them.


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