Wednesday, December 3
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest – Year A
First Reading – Isaiah 25:6-10
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of choice wines— of fat things full of marrow, of choice wines well refined. And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
℟ I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
℟ I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
℟ I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
℟ I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
℟ I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Alleluia
℟ Alleluia!
Behold, the Lord comes to save his people; blessed are those prepared to meet him.
℟ Alleluia!
Gospel – Matthew 15:29-37
And Jesus went on from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain, and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the throng wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” And commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, Ignatius Press, Copyright ⓒ 2006.
