
Readings of the day
The Nativity of Saint John the BaptistSolemnity
Sunday cycle A · Weekday cycle II
Texts from World English Bible (Catholic) (WEB-C); the official lectionary translation in your country may differ.
Mass during the Day
First reading Isaiah 49:1-6
1Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: the LORD has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned my name. 2He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver. 3He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4But I said, “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.” 5Now the LORD, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, says to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel to him, for I am honorable in the LORD’s eyes, and my God has become my strength. 6Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Isaiah 49:1-6
Responsorial Psalm Psalms 139:1-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. 2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 13For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. 15My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.Some verses are read only in part; the whole verse is shown.
WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Psalms 139:1-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
Second reading Acts 13:22-26
22When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23From this man’s offspring, God has brought salvation to Israel according to his promise, 24before his coming, when John had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel. 25As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26“Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you.WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Acts 13:22-26
Gospel acclamation Luke 1:76
Gospel Luke 1:57-66, 80
57Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son. 58Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 59On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.” 61They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62They made signs to his father, what he would have him called. 63He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled. 64His mouth was opened immediately and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him. 80The child was growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Luke 1:57-66, 80
Vigil Mass
Show readings
First reading Jeremiah 1:4-10
4Now the LORD’s word came to me, saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.” 7But the LORD said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. 8Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says the LORD. 9Then the LORD stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Then the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Jeremiah 1:4-10
Responsorial Psalm Psalms 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab, 17
1In you, LORD, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed. 2Deliver me in your righteousness, and rescue me. Turn your ear to me, and save me. 3Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5For you are my hope, Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth. 6I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you. 15My mouth will tell about your righteousness, and of your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full measure. 17God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.Some verses are read only in part; the whole verse is shown.
WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Psalms 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab, 17
Second reading 1 Peter 1:8-12
8whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, 9receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed to when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow them. 12To them it was revealed that they served not themselves, but you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: 1 Peter 1:8-12
Gospel acclamation John 1:7
Gospel Luke 1:5-17
5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. 8Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division 9according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”WEB-C · World English Bible (Catholic). Public Domain. Source: eBible.org. Read in context: Luke 1:5-17
General Roman Calendar. National calendars (for example Epiphany or Ascension on a Sunday) may have other readings.
References: Ordo Lectionum Missae, editio typica altera (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1981). The psalm response is not shown.