Daily Reading

The LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him,
Nathan said: “Judge this case for me!
In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor.
The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers.
But the poor man had nothing at all 
except one little ewe lamb that he had bought.
He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children.
She shared the little food he had 
and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom.
She was like a daughter to him.
Now, the rich man received a visitor, 
but he would not take from his own flocks and herds 
to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him.
Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb 
and made a meal of it for his visitor.”
David grew very angry with that man and said to him: 
“As the LORD lives, the man who has done this merits death!
He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold 
because he has done this and has had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David:  “You are the man!
Thus says the LORD God of Israel:
‘The sword shall never depart from your house, 
because you have despised me 
and have taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife.’
Thus says the LORD:
‘I will bring evil upon you out of your own house.
I will take your wives while you live to see it, 
and will give them to your neighbor.
He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.
You have done this deed in secret, 
but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel, 
and with the sun looking down.’”

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:
you shall not die.
But since you have utterly spurned the LORD by this deed, 
the child born to you must surely die.”
Then Nathan returned to his house.

The LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, 
and it became desperately ill.
David besought God for the child.
He kept a fast, retiring for the night 
to lie on the ground clothed in sackcloth.
The elders of his house stood beside him 
urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, 
nor would he take food with them.

R.        (12a)  Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
            and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
            and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R.        Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
            and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
            and sinners shall return to you.
R.        Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
            then my tongue shall revel in your justice.
O Lord, open my lips,
            and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R.        Create a clean heart in me, O God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, 
and said to the sea, “Quiet!  Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,
David sent out Joab along with his officers
and the army of Israel, 
and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.
David, however, remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David rose from his siesta 
and strolled about on the roof of the palace.
From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.
David had inquiries made about the woman and was told, 
“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, 
and wife of Joab’s armor bearer Uriah the Hittite.”
Then David sent messengers and took her.
When she came to him, he had relations with her.
She then returned to her house.
But the woman had conceived, 
and sent the information to David, “I am with child.”

David therefore sent a message to Joab,
“Send me Uriah the Hittite.”
So Joab sent Uriah to David.
When he came, David questioned him about Joab, the soldiers, 
and how the war was going, and Uriah answered that all was well.
David then said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.”  
Uriah left the palace, 
and a portion was sent out after him from the king’s table.
But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace 
with the other officers of his lord, and did not go down 
to his own house.
David was told that Uriah had not gone home.
On the day following, David summoned him, 
and he ate and drank with David, who made him drunk.
But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his bed 
among his lord’s servants, and did not go down to his home.
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab
which he sent by Uriah.
In it he directed:
“Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce.
Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.”
So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah
to a place where he knew the defenders were strong.
When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab, 
some officers of David’s army fell,
and among them Uriah the Hittite died.

R.        (see 3a)  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
            in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
            and of my sin cleanse me.
R.        Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
            and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
            and done what is evil in your sight.”
R.        Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
I have done such evil in your sight
            that you are just in your sentence,
            blameless when you condemn.
True, I was born guilty,
            a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
R.        Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
            the bones you have crushed shall rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins,
            and blot out all my guilt.
R.        Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to the crowds:
“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”

He said,
“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

After Nathan had spoken to King David, 
the king went in and sat before the LORD and said, 
“Who am I, Lord GOD, and who are the members of my house, 
that you have brought me to this point?
Yet even this you see as too little, Lord GOD; 
you have also spoken of the house of your servant 
for a long time to come: 
this too you have shown to man, Lord GOD!

“You have established for yourself your people Israel as yours forever, 
and you, LORD, have become their God.
And now, LORD God, confirm for all time the prophecy you have made 
concerning your servant and his house, 
and do as you have promised.
Your name will be forever great, when men say, 
‘The LORD of hosts is God of Israel,’
and the house of your servant David stands firm before you.
It is you, LORD of hosts, God of Israel, 
who said in a revelation to your servant, 
‘I will build a house for you.’
Therefore your servant now finds the courage to make this prayer to you.
And now, Lord GOD, you are God and your words are truth; 
you have made this generous promise to your servant.
Do, then, bless the house of your servant 
that it may be before you forever; 
for you, Lord GOD, have promised, 
and by your blessing the house of your servant 
shall be blessed forever.”

R.        (Lk 1:32b)  The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.
LORD, remember David
            and all his anxious care;
How he swore an oath to the LORD,
            vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob.
R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.
“I will not enter the house where I live,
            nor lie on the couch where I sleep;
I will give my eyes no sleep,
            my eyelids no rest,
Till I find a home for the LORD,
            a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.
The LORD swore an oath to David
            a firm promise from which he will not withdraw:
“Your own offspring 
            I will set upon your throne.”
R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.
“If your sons keep my covenant,
            and the decrees which I shall teach them,
Their sons, too, forever
            shall sit upon your throne.”
R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.
For the LORD has chosen Zion,
            he prefers her for his dwelling:
“Zion is my resting place forever;
            in her I will dwell, for I prefer her.”
R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.
 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket
or under a bed,
and not to be placed on a lampstand?
For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; 
nothing is secret except to come to light.
Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.”
He also told them, “Take care what you hear.
The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, 
and still more will be given to you.
To the one who has, more will be given; 
from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy, 
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

OR:

Ti 1:1-5

Paul, a slave of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ
for the sake of the faith of God’s chosen ones
and the recognition of religious truth,
in the hope of eternal life 
that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,
who indeed at the proper time revealed his word
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted
by the command of God our savior,
to Titus, my true child in our common faith:
grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

For this reason I left you in Crete
so that you might set right what remains to be done
and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.

R.        (3)  Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
            sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name.
R.        Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
            among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R.        Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the Lord, you families of nations,
            give to the Lord glory and praise;
            give to the Lord the glory due his name!
R.        Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Say among the nations: The Lord is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
            he governs the peoples with equity.
R.        Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.

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

On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered around him 
so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables, 
and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 
“Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, 
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.  
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it 
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

And when he was alone, 
those present along with the Twelve 
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them, 
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
            they may look and see but not perceive,
                        and hear and listen but not understand,
                        in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”

Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once 
and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, 
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, 
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word, 
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, 
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, 
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

Paul addressed the people in these words:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’
And he said to me,
‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’
The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.’ 
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

“A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said,
‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.’”

OR:

Acts 9:1-22

Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,
if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,
he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.
On his  journey, as he was nearing Damascus,
a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
He said, “Who are you, sir?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” 
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,
for they heard the voice but could see no one.
Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;
so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.
For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias,
and the Lord said to him in a vision, AAnanias.”
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight
and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. 
He is there praying,
and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come in and lay his hands on him,
that he may regain his sight.”
But Ananias replied,
“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,
what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief priests
to imprison all who call upon your name.”
But the Lord said to him,
“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine
to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel,
and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.”
So Ananias went and entered the house;
laying his hands on him, he said,
“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,
that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight.
He got up and was baptized,
and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.

He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,
and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God.
All who heard him were astounded and said, 
“Is not this the man who in Jerusalem
ravaged those who call upon this name,
and came here expressly to take them back in chains
to the chief priests?”
But Saul grew all the stronger
and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus,
proving that this is the Christ.

R.        (Mark 16:15)  Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R.        Alleluia, alleluia.
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
            glorify him, all you peoples!
R.        Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R.        Alleluia, alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
            and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.
R.        Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R.        Alleluia, alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”