Daily Mass and Readings

2The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers. 10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have cast dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the maidens of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. 11My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult; my heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babes faint in the streets of the city. 12They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers' bosom. 13What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can restore you? 14Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles false and misleading. 18Cry aloud to the Lord! O daughter of Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! 19Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.

1O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever? Why does thy anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 2Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt. 3Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! 4Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs. 5At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes. 6And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers. 7They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name. 20Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. 21Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name.

5As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him 6and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." 7And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it." 10When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." 13And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment. 14And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever; 15he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and served him. 16That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. 17This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."