Daily Readings for March 27, 2017

1ST READING

God knows that the Israelites are suffering while in exile, and that their return to Israel will be difficult. Through Isaiah, God speaks to His people about the new creation and the promise of a new life to inspire them to persevere in faith.

Isaiah 65:17-21

17 Thus says the Lord: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying; 20 No longer shall there be in it an 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. 21 They shall live in the houses they build, and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.

P S A L M

Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13

R: I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

1 [2] I will extol you, O Lord, for you drew me clear and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. 3 [4] O Lord, you brought me up from the nether world; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit. (R) 4 [5] Sing praise to the Lord, you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 [6] For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. (R) 10 [11] “Hear, O Lord, and have pity on me; O Lord, be my helper.” 11 [12] You changed my mourning into dancing; 12 [13] O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks. (R)

GOSPEL

The miracles in John’s Gospel point towards the divinity of Jesus. As we reflect on this, let us remember that the people and the disciples do not yet recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Redeemer and Messiah. Like the people in those times, we may also find it hard to believe in Jesus and His miracles. Let us pray for the grace to believe even if we do not understand.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you.

John 4:43-54

43 At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. 44 For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. 45 When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast. 46 Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. 51 While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. 54 Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.