Daily Readings - 25/05/2026
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH
First Reading : Gen 3, 9-15. 20
3:9 But Yahweh God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked.
3:10 ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’
3:11 ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’
3:12 The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it’.
3:13 Then Yahweh God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate’.
3:14 Then Yahweh God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life.
3:15 I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel’.
3:20 The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live[*a].
First Reading variant 2 : Acts 1, 12-14
The group of apostles
1:12 So from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, they went back to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a sabbath walk;
1:13 and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James.[*c]
1:14 All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.[*d]
Psalm : Ps 86
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God.
Of David
86:1 Listen to me, Yahweh, and answer me, poor and needy as I am;
86:2 keep my soul: I am your devoted one, save your servant who relies on you. You are my God,
86:3 take pity on me, Lord, I invoke you all day long;
86:4 give your servant reason to rejoice, for to you, Lord, I lift my soul.
86:5 Lord, you are good and forgiving, most loving to all who invoke you;
86:6 Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to me as I plead.
86:7 Lord, in trouble I invoke you, and you answer my prayer;
86:8 there is no god to compare with you, no achievement to compare with yours.
86:9 All the pagans will come and adore you, Lord, all will glorify your name,
86:10 since you alone are great, you perform marvels, you God, you alone.
86:11 Yahweh, teach me your way, how to walk beside you faithfully, make me single-hearted in fearing your name.
86:12 I thank you with all my heart, Lord my God, I glorify your name for ever,
86:13 your love for me has been so great, you have rescued me from the depths of Sheol.
86:14 Now arrogant men, God, are attacking me, a brutal gang hounding me to death: people to whom you mean nothing.
86:15 Lord God, you who are always merciful and tender-hearted, slow to anger, always loving, always loyal,
86:16 turn to me and pity me. Give me your strength, your saving help, me your servant, this son of a pious mother,
86:17 give me one proof of your goodness. Yahweh, make my opponents ashamed, show them that you are my help and consolation.
Gospel : Jn 19, 25-34
Jesus and his mother
19:25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.
19:26 Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.
19:27 Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother’. And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.
The death of Jesus
19:28 After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfil the scripture perfectly he said: ‘I am thirsty’.[*c]
19:29 A jar-full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth.
19:30 After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, ‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
The pierced Christ
19:31 It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken[*d] and the bodies taken away.
19:32 Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other.
19:33 When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs
19:34 one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.