First Reading Isaiah 11:1-10
A reading from the Prophet Isaiah.
Like a branch that sprouts from a stump, someone from David's family will someday be king.
The Spirit of the LORD will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the LORD. His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD.
This king won't judge by appearances or listen to rumors. The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness and with justice.
His word will be law everywhere in the land, and criminals will be put to death.
Honesty and fairness will be his royal robes. Leopards will lie down with young goats, and wolves will rest with lambs. Calves and lions will eat together and be cared for by little children. Cows and bears will share the same pasture; their young will rest side by side. Lions and oxen will both eat straw.
Little children will play near snake holes. They will stick their hands into dens of poisonous snakes and never be hurt.
Nothing harmful will take place on the LORD's holy mountain. Just as water fills the sea, the land will be filled with people who know and honor the LORD.
The Word of the Lord.
Responsorial psalm
Reader: God will give justice and peace.
People: God will give justice and peace.
Reader: God, teach the king to judge rightly. Let the king judge poor people fairly.
People: God will give justice and peace.
Reader: God’s justice and peace will spread. God will rule from sea to sea.
People: God will give justice and peace.
Reader: God will have pity on weak people. God will save the lives of poor people.
People: God will give justice and peace.
Reader: Like the sun, God will live and reign for ever. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
People: God will give justice and peace.
Second reading Rom 15: 4-9
A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the people of Rome. (Rom 15:4-9)
The Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. Then all of you together will praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Honor God by accepting each other, as Christ has accepted you. I tell you that Christ came as a servant of the Jews to show that God has kept the promises he made to their famous ancestors. Christ also came, so that the Gentiles would praise God for being kind to them. It is just as the Scriptures say,
"I will tell the nations about you, and I will sing praises to your name."
The Word of the Lord.
A reading from the Good News by St Matthew (3: 1-12)
John the Baptist started preaching in the desert of Judea. He said, "Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here." John was the one the prophet Isaiah was talking about, when he said, "In the desert someone is shouting, `Get the road ready for the Lord! Make a straight path for him.' "
John wore clothes made of camel's hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey. From Jerusalem and all Judea and from the Jordan River Valley crowds of people went to John. They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the river.
Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them:
You snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. And don't start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham's family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.
I baptize you with water so that you will give up your sins. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in a barn and burn the husks in a fire that never goes out.
The Good News of the Lord.
