| First Readings –Readings from the Old Testament |
1) A Reading from the Book of Lamentations (3,17-26)
My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “Gone is my glory, and all that I hoped for from the Lord”. The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is gall to me! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him”. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord
2) A reading from the Prophet Isaiah (49,814-16)
Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favour I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you”. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me”. “Can a woman forget her child at the breast, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Look, I have written your name on the palm of my hand”.
This is the Word of the Lord
3) A reading from the prophet Isaiah (12,2-6)
Truly, God is my salvation, I trust, I shall not fear, for the Lord is my strength, my song, he became my Saviour. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name! Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples! Declare the greatness of his name! Sing a psalm to the Lord, for he has done glorious deeds, make them known to all the earth! People of Zion, sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
This is the Word of the Lord
| Second Readings –Readings from the New Testament |
4) A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (5,5 – 11)
Hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful people. It is not easy to die even for a good person – though of course for someone really worthy, one might be prepared to die – but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would now fail to save us from God’s anger? When we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we were still enemies: now that we have been reconciled, surely we may count on being saved by the life of his Son? Not merely because we have been reconciled but because we are filled with joyful trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation.
This is the Word of the Lord
5) A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (8,31-33,37-39)
If God is for us, who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Jesus Christ? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us. What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor anything that exists, nor anything still to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord
6) A Reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (15,51-57)
I will tell you something that has been secret: that we are not all going to die, but we shall all be changed. This will be instantaneous, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. It will sound, and the dead will be raised, imperishable, and we shall be changed as well, because our present perishable nature must put on imperishability and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of Scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death where is your victory? Death where is your sting? Now the sting of sin is death, and sin gets its power from the law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the Word of the Lord
7) A reading from the First Letter of St. John (3,1-2)
Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.
This is the Word of the Lord
