• St. Damasus, Pope

• First Reading: Isaiah 41:13-20

  13: For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you."
  
  14: Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
  
  15: Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff;
  
  16: You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
  
  17: When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
  
  18: I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
  
  19: I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together;
  
  20: that men may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

• Psalm: Psalms 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab

  1: I will extol thee, my God and King, and bless thy name for ever and ever.
  
  2: Every day I will bless thee, and praise thy name for ever and ever.
  
  3: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
  
  4: One generation shall laud thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
  
  5: On the glorious splendor of thy majesty, and on thy wondrous works, I will meditate.
  
  6: Men shall proclaim the might of thy terrible acts, and I will declare thy greatness.
  
  7: They shall pour forth the fame of thy abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
  
  8: The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
  
  9: The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
  
  10: All thy works shall give thanks to thee, O LORD, and all thy saints shall bless thee!
  
  11: They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and tell of thy power,
  
  12: to make known to the sons of men thy mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of thy kingdom.
  
  13: Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.
  

• Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15

  11: Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
  
  12: From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force.
  
  13: For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John;
  
  14: and if you are willing to accept it, he is Eli'jah who is to come.
  
  15: He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

   

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