Reading

A reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to Thessalonians. 1 Thess 5: 16-24 Brothers and sisters: Always stay happy.  Never stop praying.  Give thanks to God for everything, because God wants you to do this in Jesus Christ.  Never limit the work of the Spirit. Prophesy is a gift – respect it.  Before you do anything, think first; all things that are good keep; all evil things avoid. May the God of peace make you perfect and holy.  May God…

A reading from book of prophet Isaiah.    Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11. The spirit of the lord has been given to me because the Lord anointed me.  The lord chose me to go and tell the good news to poor people; to heal broken hearts; to tell those suffering from stress that they are now free; to those imprisoned freedom and to proclaim the Lord’s year of support. ‘I am happy in the Lord; my soul is happy in my God  because God…

A reading from the Book of the prophet ISAIAH.   Is. 40:1-5,9-11. God says, “Comfort, my people. Comfort them.”  Speak to the people of JERUSALEM.  Tell them they suffered long enough.  I gave them double punishment for all the bad things they did, and now their sins are forgiven. In the desert a voice shouts: “Prepare a way for the Lord, Make the road straight for God.  Fill every valley.  Make all mountains and hills flat.  The rough land will be made smooth. …

A reading from the Book of the Prophet ISAIAH.                Is. 63:16b-17. 64:2-7. Lord, you are our Father, our Savior is your name forever.            Lord, why did you allow us to loose our way?  Why did you allow our hearts to become hard against you?  Come back to us Lord; we are your servants.  Come back to us because we belong to you. Rip open the sky and come down to earth, and the mountains will  tremble (shake) at…

A reading from the first letter of Paul to Thessalonians.          Thessalonians 4:13-18 Brothers and sisters: We want you to know the truth about people that have died, so that you will not be very sad, like those people that think there is no hope.  We believe that Jesus died and rose again.  We believe it will be the same for those that have died.  If they believed in Jesus, God will bring them to be with him. The word of…

A reading from the first Letter of Saint John         I John 3:1-3. God the Father loves us very much, He lovingly made (created) us his children. The world refused to believe God, and so the world does not understand that we are God’s children. Dear friends, now we are children of God.  But we do not know yet what we shall become in the future. We know that when Christ comes again, we shall be like him, because we shall…

A reading from the Book of Revelation                                             Rev.7:2-4, 9-14. I, John, saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God.  God had given 4 angels power to destroy the earth and the sea.  The angel shouted out in a powerful voice to the 4 angels, “Do not damage the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the  servants of God with oil on their forehead.”  And I heard the…

A reading from St. Paul’s Letter to Philippians.       Philippians 2:1-11  Brothers and sisters: I ask you what does our life in Christ mean to you?  Does love mean anything to you?  Do we share the same Spirit?  Do you have kindness and mercy for other people?  Are things important to you?  If you believe this you will make me very happy. I want you all to have the same thoughts that we have.  I want you to be together…

A reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans                 Romans 13:8-10 Brothers and sisters:  Try not to owe anything to anyone.  The only thing that you will always owe is love.  If you love people, you have followed the law.  All the commandments: You must not do the sin of adultery, you must not kill, you must not steal, you must not want the things that belong to other people, and other laws altogether – the Ten Commandments…

A reading from the Book of Ezekiel                                          Ezekiel 33:7-9 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, I appoint you as a guard for the family of Israel.  If you hear a warning from me, you must tell the people in my name.  If I say that evil people will die but you do not warn them to change their way so that they can save their lives, then as sinners they will die, but you will be responsible…