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Daily Readings - 23/08/2026

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Ordinary Time Week XXI Green

First Reading : Isa 22, 19-23

Another oracle against Shebna

22:19 I dismiss you from your office, I remove you from your post,

22:20 and the same day I call on my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

22:21 I invest him with your robe, gird him with your sash, entrust him with your authority; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah.

22:22 I place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; should he open, no one shall close, should he close, no one shall open.

22:23 I drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a throne of glory for his father’s house.

Psalm : Ps 138 (137)

R// Lord, your mercy endures forever.

Of David

138:1 I thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart, because you have heard what I said. In the presence of the angels I play for you,

138:2 and bow down towards your holy Temple. I give thanks to your name for your love and faithfulness; your promise is even greater than your fame.

138:3 The day I called for help, you heard me and you increased my strength.

138:4 Yahweh, all kings on earth give thanks to you, for they have heard your promises;

138:5 they celebrate Yahweh’s actions, ‘Great is the glory of Yahweh!’

138:6 From far above, Yahweh sees the humble, from far away he marks down the arrogant.

138:7 Though I live surrounded by trouble, you keep me alive-to my enemies’ fury! You stretch your hand out and save me, your right hand

138:8 will do everything for me. Yahweh, your love is everlasting, do not abandon us whom you have made.

Second Reading : Rom 11, 33-36

A hymn to God’s mercy and wisdom

11:33 How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods!

11:34 Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor?

11:35 Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything?[*h]

11:36 All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.

Gospel : Mt 16, 13-20

Peter’s profession of faith; his pre-eminence

16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’

16:14 And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’.

16:15 ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’

16:16 Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God’.

16:17 Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

16:18 So I now say to you: You are Peter[*b] and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld[*c] can never hold out against it.

16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.'[*d]

16:20 Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.