Catholic daily readings

Wednesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Wednesday, July 21, 2027 · Ordinary Time - Week 16

The readings meet you in the ordinary place where faith is practiced. Stay with what Jesus says or does here, and let it ask for one honest response.

Today’s readings

First Reading

Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15

They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; and the children of Israel said to them, "We wish that we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." Moses said to Aaron, "Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come close to the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.' " As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the LORD's glory appeared in the cloud. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, 'At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.' " In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they didn't know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 78:18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28

They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky. Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind. He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas. He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.

Gospel

Matthew 13:1-9

On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside. Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach. He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

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