Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).

First reading
Exodus 11:10-12:14

‘They shall kill their lambs at twilight.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.’

In those days: Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbour shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

‘Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

‘This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute for ever, you shall keep it as a feast.’

How to listen

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 116(115):12-13. 15, 16bc. 17-18. ℟ cf. 1 Corinthians 10:16

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

or: Alleluia.

How can I repay the Lord

for all his goodness to me?

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

or: Alleluia.

How precious in the eyes of the Lord

is the death of his faithful.

Your servant am I, the son of your handmaid;

you have loosened my bonds.

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

or: Alleluia.

I will offer a thanksgiving sacrifice;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil

before all his people.

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

or: Alleluia.

Gospel Acclamation	John 10:27

Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord,

and I know them, and they follow me.

Alleluia.

Gospel	Matthew 12:1-8

‘The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.’

At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here. And if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.’

Christian Art

Each day, The Christian Art website gives a picture and reflection on the Gospel of the day.

The readings on this page are from the English Standard Version, which is used at Mass in Great Britain. The Jerusalem Bible (which is used at Mass in much of the English-speaking world) will appear instead if you set this page to use a calendar from outside Great Britain. The New American Bible readings, which are used at Mass in the United States, are available in the Universalis apps, programs and downloads.

You can also view this page with the New Testament in Greek and English.