Reading 1 Isaiah 49:8-15 Thus says the LORD:In a time of favor I answer you,on the day of salvation I help you;and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people,To restore the landand allot the desolate heritages,Saying to the prisoners: Come out!To those in darkness: Show yourselves!Along the ways they shall find pasture,on every bare height shall their pastures be.They shall not hunger or thirst,nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them;For he who pities them leads themand guides them beside springs of water.I will cut a road through all my mountains,and make my highways level.See, some shall come from afar,others from the north and the west,and some from the land of Syene.Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,break forth into song, you mountains.For the LORD comforts his peopleand shows mercy to his afflicted.But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me;my Lord has forgotten me."Can a mother forget her infant,be without tenderness

Reading 1 Isaiah 65:17-21 Thus says the LORD:Lo, I am about to create new heavensand a new earth;The things of the past shall not be rememberedor come to mind.Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happinessin what I create;For I create Jerusalem to be a joyand its people to be a delight;I will rejoice in Jerusalemand exult in my people.No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,or the sound of crying;No longer shall there be in itan infant who lives but a few days,or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime;He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.They shall live in the houses they build,and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.  Responsorial Psalm Psalm 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clearand did not let my enemies rejoice over me.O LORD, you brough

Reading 1 Hosea 6:1-6 "Come, let us return to the LORD,it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.He will revive us after two days;on the third day he will raise us up,to live in his presence.Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;as certain as the dawn is his coming,and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!He will come to us like the rain,like spring rain that waters the earth."What can I do with you, Ephraim?What can I do with you, Judah?Your piety is like a morning cloud,like the dew that early passes away.For this reason I smote them through the prophets,I slew them by the words of my mouth;For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.  Responsorial Psalm  Psalm 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab R. (see Hosea 6:6) It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;in the greatness of your compassion

Reading 1 Jeremiah 7:23-28 Thus says the LORD: This is what I commanded my people:Listen to my voice;then I will be your God and you shall be my people.Walk in all the ways that I command you,so that you may prosper.But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.They walked in the hardness of their evil heartsand turned their backs, not their faces, to me.From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.When you speak all these words to them,they will not listen to you either;when you call to them, they will not answer you.Say to them:This is the nation that does not listento the voice of the LORD, its God,or take correction.Faithfulness has disappeared;the word itself is banished from their speech.  Responsorial Psalm Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 R. (8) If today you h

Reading 1 Daniel 3:25, 34-43 Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,or make void your covenant.Do not take away your mercy from us,for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,To whom you promised to multiply their offspringlike the stars of heaven,or the sand on the shore of the sea.For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,brought low everywhere in the world this daybecause of our sins.We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.But with contrite heart and humble spiritlet us be received;As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,or thousands of fat lambs,So let our sacrifice be in your presence todayas we follow you unreservedly;for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.And now we follow you with our whole hea