Catholic Daily Readings

Daily Mass Readings For Thursday, November 20, 2025

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading I: 1 Maccabees 2:15-29

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

Alleluia: Psalm 95:8

Gospel: Luke 19:41-44

Liturgical vestments: Green

Thursday, November 20, 2025: Readings & Responsorial Psalm & Gospel

Each day, the Mass readings invite us into a deeper encounter with God. Through Scripture, we hear His voice speaking to our hearts, guiding us, comforting us, and calling us to a life of holiness. The Word of God is not just a story from the past; it is alive, relevant, and transformative.

Every reading is an opportunity for grace. Some days, the words challenge us to grow; other days, they console us in our struggles. But always, they nourish our souls, strengthening our faith and drawing us closer to Christ.

Let us open our hearts to the Word of God daily. May we not just hear it but live it, allowing it to shape our actions and deepen our love for Him. Lord, speak to us today, and help us to follow You more faithfully. Amen.

Reading I

1 Maccabees 2:15-29

The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy
came to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices.
Many of Israel joined them,
but Mattathias and his sons gathered in a group apart.
Then the officers of the king addressed Mattathias:
“You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city,
supported by sons and kin.
Come now, be the first to obey the king’s command,
as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah
and those who are left in Jerusalem have done.
Then you and your sons shall be numbered among the King’s Friends,
and shall be enriched with silver and gold and many gifts.”
But Mattathias answered in a loud voice:
“Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him,
so that each forsakes the religion of his fathers
and consents to the king’s orders,
yet I and my sons and my kin
will keep to the covenant of our fathers.
God forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments.
We will not obey the words of the king
nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree.”

As he finished saying these words,
a certain Jew came forward in the sight of all
to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein
according to the king’s order.
When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal;
his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused;
he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar.
At the same time, he also killed the messenger of the king
who was forcing them to sacrifice,
and he tore down the altar.
Thus he showed his zeal for the law,
just as Phinehas did with Zimri, son of Salu.

Then Mattathias went through the city shouting,
“Let everyone who is zealous for the law
and who stands by the covenant follow after me!”
Thereupon he fled to the mountains with his sons,
leaving behind in the city all their possessions.
Many who sought to live according to righteousness and religious custom
went out into the desert to settle there.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

R.   (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
   from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
   God shines forth.
R.   To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
   those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
   for God himself is the judge.
R.   To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
    and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
   I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”
R.   To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Alleluia

Psalm 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Reflection

“To confess my personal feelings, when I reflect on all these blessings I am overcome by a kind of dread and numbness at the very possibility of ceasing to love God and of bringing shame upon Christ because of my lack of recollection and my preoccupation with trivialities.” (Saint Basil the Great)

"The true God, who comes to meet us in the disarming docility of love" (Benedict XVI)

“… When Jerusalem comes into view he weeps over her and expresses once again his heart's desire: "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n 558)

Saint of the Day

St. Gelasius I, Pope

St Gelasius became Pope in 496, and during his four-year reign fought against paganism and heresy, writing treatises against Manicheanism, Monophysitism, and Pelagianism, among others. Some of his principles in ecclesiastical matters were taken up by the Second Vatican Council.