Wednesday
of the Fourth Week of Lent
FIRST
READING: Isaiah
49:8-15
8
Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in
the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved thee,
and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest
raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed:
9
That thou mightest say to them that are bound: Come forth: and to
them that are in darkness: shew yourselves. They shall feed in the
ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain.
10
They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun
strike them: for he that is merciful to them, shall be their
shepherd, and at the fountains of waters he shall give them drink.
11
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall be
exalted.
12
Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north
and from the sea, and these from the south country.
13
Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth, ye mountains, give
praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted his people,
and will have mercy on his poor ones.
14
And Zion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten
me.
15
Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of
her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee.
PSALM:
Psalms 145:8-9,
13-14, 17-18
8
The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy.
9
The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his
works.
13
Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth
throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words:
and holy in all his works.
14
The Lord lifteth up all that fall: and setteth up all that are cast
down.
17
The Lord is just in all his ways: and holy in all his works.
18
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call
upon him in truth.
GOSPEL:
John 5:17-30
17
But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
18
Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he
did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father,
making himself equal to God.
19
Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you,
the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in
like manner.
20
For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things which
himself doth: and greater works than these will he shew him, that you
may wonder.
21
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son
also giveth life to whom he will.
22
For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all
judgment to the Son.
23
That all men may honour the Son, as they honour the Father. He who
honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who hath sent him.
24
Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth
him that sent me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into
judgment, but is passed from death to life.
25
Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live.
26
For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also
to have life in himself:
27
And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of
man.
28
Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the
graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
29
And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the
resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of judgment.
30
I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and my
judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him
that sent me.
