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Reading I Gn 49:2, 8-10

Jacob called his sons and said to them:
    “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,
        listen to Israel, your father.

    “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise
        –your hand on the neck of your enemies;
        the sons of your father shall bow down to you.
    Judah, like a lion’s whelp,
        you have grown up on prey, my son.
    He crouches like a lion recumbent,

 » Read more about: Friday of the Third Week of Advent  »

Reading I Is 54:1-10

    Raise a glad cry, you barren one who did not bear,
        Break forth in jubilant song, you who were not in labor,
    For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife
        than the children of her who has a husband,
        says the LORD.
    Enlarge the space for your tent,
        spread out your tent cloths unsparingly;
        lengthen your ropes and make firm your stakes.

Reading I Is 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25

I am the LORD, there is no other;
    I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe;
    I, the LORD, do all these things.
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,
    like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
    let justice also spring up!

Readings for the Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church

Reading I Zep 3:1-2, 9-13

Thus says the LORD:
Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,
    to the tyrannical city!
She hears no voice,
    accepts no correction;
In the LORD she has not trusted,
    to her God she has not drawn near.

For then I will change and purify
    the lips of the peoples,

Readings for the Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr

Reading I Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a

When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe,
    the spirit of God came upon him,
    and he gave voice to his oracle:

    The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,
        the utterance of a man whose eye is true,
    The utterance of one who hears what God says,

Reading I Zep 3:14-18a

    Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
        Sing joyfully, O Israel!
    Be glad and exult with all your heart,
        O daughter Jerusalem!
    The LORD has removed the judgment against you
        he has turned away your enemies;
    the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
        you have no further misfortune to fear.
    On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
        Fear not,

Reading I Sir 48:1-4, 9-11

    In those days,
    like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
        whose words were as a flaming furnace.
    Their staff of bread he shattered,
        in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
    By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
        and three times brought down fire.
    How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
        Whose glory is equal to yours?

Reading I Is 48:17-19

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
    the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
    teach you what is for your good,
    and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
    your prosperity would be like a river,
    and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,

Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Reading I Is 41:13-20

I am the LORD, your God,
    who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
    I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
    O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
    your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,

Reading I Gn 3:9-15, 20

After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied,