Saturday of the First Week of Advent
Reading 1 Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (see Isaiah 30:18d) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our LORD and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Alleluia Isaiah 33:22
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The LORD is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King;
he it is who will save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."
Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Nicholas, Bishop
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord.
Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days
Saturday, July 26 (today!) // Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sunday, July 27 // Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Tuesday, July 29 // Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Wednesday, July 30 // Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Thursday, July 31 // Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Friday, August 1 // Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Letter from the Editor //
Dear Sister,
Abraham was held up as a model for us last Sunday, and we can learn from him again in the First Reading for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Abraham knows the Lord and trusts in His merciful heart as he pleads for the hypothetical innocent people of Sodom, a city the Lord is ready to destroy because of their widespread sin. He reasons and persists with the Lord, and the Lord listens to him. We can come to our own knowledge of the depths of the Lord’s mercy, when we consider the words of Saint Paul: “even when you were dead in transgressions [. . .], he brought you to life along with him” (Colossians 2:13). The Lord does not wish harm to any of His creatures, especially us humans, who were made in His image.
While He allows evil—because part of being made in His image is having a will free to choose (or not choose) the good—He will always bring about our good in the end when we persistently seek and turn to Him. As we grow in our relationship with Him, we sometimes might feel like He is not listening to our prayers. We ask again and again, but do not receive what we ask for. Sister, the Lord reminds us in the Gospel that He knows better than we do that which we need. He will always give us “our daily bread and forgive us our sins” and the “Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:3-4, 13). With the Psalmist, let us trust Him and pray, “When I called you answered me; you built up strength within me” (Psalm 138:3).In Christ’s Love,
Susanna
Read the Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
First Reading // Genesis 18:20-32
Responsorial Psalm // Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
Second Reading // Colossians 2:12-14
Gospel // Luke 11:1-13
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Devotions Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer and editor and a teacher-in-training living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew , Listen to Him: A Meditation on Mark, and Abide in His Love: A Meditation on John. She was narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God and a contributing author and editor for our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. She was the Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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