Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time (II)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Isaiah 26.7-9, 12, 16-19

The way of the just is smooth.
You who are upright
make the path of the righteous level.
Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Lord,
we have waited for you.
Your name and your renown
are the desire of our soul.
With my soul I have desired you in the night.
Yes, with my spirit within me
seeks you earnestly;
for when your judgments are on the earth,
the inhabitants of the world
learn righteousness.

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for you have also done all our work for us.

O Lord, in trouble we have visited you.
We poured out a prayer
when your chastening was upon us.
Like a woman with child,
who draws near the time of her delivery,
is in pain and cries out in her pangs;
so we have been before you, O Lord.
We have been with child.
We have been in pain.
We gave birth only to wind.
We have not worked any deliverance on the earth;
nor have the inhabitants of the world.
Your dead shall live.
Their dead bodies shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust;
for your dew is like the dew of herbs,
and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.

Responsorial – Psalm 102.13-14ab+15, 16-18, 19-21 Resp. 20b

R. From heaven, the Lord saw the earth.

But you, the Lord, will remain forever;
your renown endures to all generations.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
for the time has come to pity her.
For your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and have pity on her dust.

R. From heaven, the Lord saw the earth.

The nations will fear the Lord’s name,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the Lord has built up Zion.
He has appeared in his glory.
He has responded to the prayer of the destitute,
and has not despised their prayer.

R. From heaven, the Lord saw the earth.

This will be written for the generation to come;
a people yet to be created will praise the Lord.
For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary.
From heaven, the Lord saw the earth;
to hear the groans of the prisoner;
to free those who are condemned to death;

R. From heaven, the Lord saw the earth.

Gospel – Matthew 11.28-30

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart,
and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”