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| "The Good Shepherd" -- by James Tissot |
FIRST
READING: Isaiah
40: 1 - 11
1
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is
ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the
LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3
A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made
low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a
plain.
5
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see
it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
6
A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the
field.
7
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD
blows upon it; surely the people is grass.
8
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will
stand for ever.
9
Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift
up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your
God!"
10
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11
He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in
his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that
are with young.
PSALM:
Psalms 96:
1 - 3, 10 - 13
1
O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
2
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to
day.
3
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all
the peoples!
10
Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yea, the world is
established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with
equity."
11
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar,
and all that fills it;
12
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees
of the wood sing for joy
13
before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He
will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his
truth.
GOSPEL:
Matthew 18:
12 - 14
12
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has
gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and
go in search of the one that went astray?
13
And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more
than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
14
So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these
little ones should perish.
