2 April 2025 Catholic Mass Bible Reading

2 April 2025 Catholic Mass Bible Reading    • 2 April 2025 Catholic Mass Bible Reading   Wednesday 2 April 2025 First reading Isaiah 49:8-15 Thus says the Lord: ‘In a time of favour I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, “Come out”, to those who are in darkness, “Appear.” They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.’ Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. But Sion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.’ Responsorial Psalm Ps 145(144):8-9. 13c-14. 17-18. ℟8a The Lord is kind and full of compassion. The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures. The Lord is kind and full of compassion. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and holy in all his deeds. The Lord supports all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The Lord is kind and full of compassion. The Lord is just in all his ways, and holy in all his deeds. The Lord is close to all who call him, who call on him in truth. The Lord is kind and full of compassion. Gospel Acclamation John 11:25a, 26 Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus. I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Everyone who believes in me shall never die. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus. Gospel John 5:17-30 At that time: Jesus answered the Jews, ‘My Father is working even now, and I am working.’ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son, that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life. ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement. ‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.’  Gospel of the Lord