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Daily Readings - 29/04/2026

SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, virgin and doctor of the Church, patroness of Europe

Easter Time Week IV White

First Reading : 1 Jn 1, 5 — 2, 2

1:5 This is what we have heard from him, and the message that we are announcing to you: God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.

1:6 If we say that we are in union with God[*a] while we are living in darkness, we are lying because we are not living the truth.

1:7 But if we live our lives in the light, as he is in the light, we are in union with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

First condition: break with sin

1:8 If we say we have no sin in us; we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth;

1:9 but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from everything that is wrong.

1:10 To say that we have never sinned is to call God a liar and to show that his word is not in us.

2:1 I am writing this, my children, to stop you sinning; but if anyone should sin, we have our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is just;

2:2 he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours, but the whole world’s.

Psalm : Ps 102

R. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Prayer of the downtrodden telling Yahweh their troubles at a moment of distress

102:1 Yahweh, hear my prayer, let my cry for help reach you;

102:2 do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble; bend down to listen to me, when I call, be quick to answer me!

102:3 For my days are vanishing like smoke, my bones smouldering like logs,

102:4 my heart shrivelling like scorched grass and my appetite has gone;

102:5 whenever I heave a sigh, my bones stick through my skin.

102:6 I live in a desert like the pelican, in a ruin like the screech owl,

102:7 I stay awake, lamenting like a lone bird on the roof;

102:8 my enemies insult me all day long, those who used to praise me now use me as a curse.

102:9 Ashes are the bread I eat, what I drink I lace with tears,

102:10 under your furious anger, since you only picked me up to throw me down;

102:11 my days dwindle away like a shadow, I am as dry as hay.

102:12 Whereas, Yahweh, you remain for ever; each generation in turn remembers you!

102:13 Rise, take pity on Zion! – the time has come to have mercy on her, the hour has come;

102:14 for your servants prize her stones and are moved to pity by her dust.

102:15 Then will the nations fear the name of Yahweh and all kings on earth respect your glory;

102:16 when Yahweh builds Zion anew, he will be seen in his glory;

102:17 he will answer the prayer of the abandoned, he will not scorn their petitions.

102:18 Put this on record for the next generation, so that a race still to be born can praise God:

102:19 Yahweh has leaned down from the heights of his sanctuary, has looked down at earth from heaven,

102:20 to hear the sighing of the captive, and to set free those doomed to die.

102:28 Your servants’ sons will have a permanent home, and their descendants be in your presence always,

102:21 to proclaim the name of Yahweh in Zion, his praise in Jerusalem;

102:22 nations and kingdoms will be united and offer worship to Yahweh together.

102:24b Do not take me prematurely, when your own life lasts for ever.

102:25 Aeons ago, you laid earth’s foundations, the heavens are the work of your hands;

102:26 all will vanish, though you remain, all wear out like a garment, like clothes that need changing you will change them;

102:27 but yourself, you never change, and your years are unending.

Gospel : Mt 11, 25-30

The Good News revealed to the simple. The Father and the Son

11:25 At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.

11:26 Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.

11:27 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

The gentle mastery of Christ

11:28 ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.

11:29 Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.[*f]

11:30 Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’