Today's Readings

Yet more readings for today Mon 10 Dec:

Luke 5: 17-26
Now on one of those days, while Jesus was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus. But since they found no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the roof tiles right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Then the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, “Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their hostile thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you raising objections within yourselves? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralyzed man – “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher and go home.” Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all, and they glorified God. They were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen incredible things today.”

Isaiah 35: 1-10
Let the desert and dry region be happy;
let the wilderness rejoice and bloom like a lily!
Let it richly bloom; let it rejoice and shout with delight!
It is given the grandeur of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that have gone limp, steady the knees that shake!
Tell those who panic,
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.”
Then blind eyes will open, deaf ears will hear.
Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow in the desert,
streams in the wilderness.
The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it –
fools will not stray into it.
No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it –
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way.
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them;
grief and suffering will disappear.