Readings: Thursday 15th Week in Ordinary Time Year 1

First Reading

First Reading: Exodus  3:13-20

Moses, hearing the voice of the Lord from the burning bush, said to him,
          “When I go to the children of Israel and say to them,
          ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
          if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
God replied, “I am who am.”
Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel:
          I AM sent me to you.”
God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel:
          The Lord, the God of your fathers,
          the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
          has sent me to you.
          “This is my name forever;
                    this my title for all generations.
“Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and tell them:  
          The Lord, the God of your fathers,
          the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
          has appeared to me and said:
          I am concerned about you
          and about the way you are being treated in Egypt;
          so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt
          into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,  
          Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,
          a land flowing with milk and honey.
“Thus they will heed your message.  
Then you and the elders of Israel
          shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him:
          “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent us word.
Permit us, then, to go a three-days’ journey in the desert,
          that we may offer sacrifice to the Lord, our God.
“Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go
          unless he is forced.
I will stretch out my hand, therefore,
          and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there.
After that he will send you away.” 

Responsorial Psalm

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 105:1 and 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27

R./  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.   or: Alleluia:

Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;
          make known among the nations his deeds.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
          his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R./  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.   or: Alleluia:

He remembers forever his covenant
          which he made binding for a thousand generations–
Which he entered into with Abraham
          and by his oath to Isaac.
R./  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.   or: Alleluia:

He greatly increased his people
          and made them stronger than their foes,
Whose hearts he changed, so that they hated his people,
          and dealt deceitfully with his servants.
R./  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.   or: Alleluia:

He sent Moses his servant;
          Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They wrought his signs among them,
          and wonders in the land of Ham.
R./  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.   or: Alleluia:

Holy Gospel

Gospel Reading: Matthew  11:28-30

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
          and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
          for I am meek and humble of heart;
          and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”