Catholic daily readings

Wednesday of the 5th Week of Lent

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 · Lent - Week 5

The readings make space for a truthful return, without panic or performance. Stay with what Jesus says or does here, and let it ask for one honest response.

Today’s readings

First Reading

Isaiah 49:8-15

The LORD says, "I have answered you in an acceptable time. I have helped you in a day of salvation. I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage, saying to those who are bound, 'Come out!'; to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' "They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them, for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide them by springs of water. I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim." Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth! Break out into singing, mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18

The LORD is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness. The LORD is good to all. His tender mercies are over all his works. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and loving in all his deeds. The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works. The LORD is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Gospel

John 5:17-30

But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, so I am working, too." For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus therefore answered them, "Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn't honor the Son doesn't honor the Father who sent him. "Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn't come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God's voice; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. Don't marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.

Scripture text: World English Bible Catholic Edition, public domain. Reading citations are prepared for Come Aside from MIT-licensed citation metadata.