Mass Readings For Tomorrow (Readings, Gospel, and Reflection)
Liturgical Calendar
Tuesday, March 17, 2026: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Readings and Gospel
Reading 1 :
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Verse Before the Gospel :
Psalm 51:12a, 14a
Gospel :
John 5:1-16
Liturgical vestments: Purple
Tuesday, March 17, 2026: Readings & Responsorial Psalm & Gospel
Mass Readings for Tomorrow – Preparing Our Hearts
As we look ahead to tomorrow’s Mass Readings, we are invited to prepare our hearts to receive God’s word more deeply. Each reading, whether from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, or the Gospel, is a message of love, guidance, and encouragement for our journey of faith.
Tomorrow’s readings remind us that God is always speaking to us—through His prophets, His apostles, and above all, through His Son, Jesus Christ. As we anticipate the Gospel passage, we reflect on how Christ’s words continue to call us to conversion, to deeper trust, and to a more profound love for God and neighbor.
Taking time to meditate on the Mass Readings for Tomorrow helps us to enter the Eucharistic celebration with open hearts. It allows us to be more attentive, more receptive, and more transformed by His grace. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds and prepare our souls, so that when we hear God’s word proclaimed at Mass, we may not only listen but truly live it.
🙏 Lord, open our hearts to Your word, and let it bear fruit in our lives. Amen.
Reading 1
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
The angel brought me, Ezekiel,
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, "Have you seen this, son of man?"
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
Verse Before the Gospel
Psalm 51:12a, 14a
A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
"Do you want to be well?"
The sick man answered him,
"Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me."
Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
"It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat."
He answered them, "The man who made me well told me,
'Take up your mat and walk.'"
They asked him,
"Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you."
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.