Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Isaiah 40.1-11

“Take comfort, take comfort, O my people,” says your God.
Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and proclaim unto her:
her warfare is accomplished;
her iniquity is pardoned;
she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord!
Make level in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low;
and the uneven land shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, “Cry!”
I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows on it.
Surely the people are like grass.
The grass withers; the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

O you who give good tidings to Zion: get up on a high mountain.
O you who give good tidings to Jerusalem: lift up your voice with strength; lift it up; be not afraid;
say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
Behold, the Lord God will come in power, and with his arm he will rule.
Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs in his arm,
and carry them in his bosom,
and will gently lead the ewes with their young.

Responsorial – Psalm 96.1-2, 3+10ac, 11-12, 13 Resp. Isaiah 40:10ab

R. The Lord God comes with power.

Sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord! Bless his name!
Proclaim his salvation from day to day!

R. The Lord God comes with power.

Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
He will judge the people with equity.

R. The Lord God comes with power.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice.
Let the sea roar, and its fullness!
Let the field and all that is in it exult!
Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy

R. The Lord God comes with power.

They will rejoice before the Lord; for he comes,
for he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

R. The Lord God comes with power.

Gospel – Matthew 18.12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“What do you think?
If a human has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray,
do they not leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
If they find it, amen I tell you,
they rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”