MASS READINGS, General Week 9th - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2021 FIRST READING "The prayer of one and the other was brought in the presence of the glory of God where it was heard" A Reading from the book of Tobit (3, 1-11.16-17a)

MASS READINGS, General Week 9th - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2021 

FIRST READING 

"The prayer of one and the other was brought in the presence of the glory of God where it was heard" 

A Reading from the book of Tobit (3, 1-11.16-17a) 

In those days, with death in my soul, I, Tobith, moaned and wept; then, in the midst of my groans, I began to pray: “You are righteous, Lord, all your works are righteous, all your ways, mercy and truth; it is you who judges the world. And now, Lord, remember me and see: do not punish me for my sins, my errors, nor for those of my fathers, who sinned before you and refused to hear your commandments. You delivered us to plunder, to deportation and to death, to be the fable, the laughing stock, the sarcasm of all the nations where you have disseminated us. And even now, the many judgments that you bring against me are true, for my sins and those of my fathers, for we have not kept your commandments nor walked in the truth before you. And now, act with me as you please, order that my breath be taken back, so that I disappear from the face of the earth and become, myself, earth. For me, it is better to die than to live, for I have heard lying insults, and I am overwhelmed with sadness. Lord, command me to be delivered from this adversity; let me go into the eternal abode, and do not turn your face away from me, Lord. Because, for me, better to die than to endure so many adversities throughout life. Thus, I will no longer have to hear such insults. »But that day, Sarra, the daughter of Ragouël of Ecbatane in Media, was also insulted by a young servant of her father: she had been married seven times, and Asmodeus, the worst demon, killed husbands before they approached her. So the maid said to Sarra: "It was you who killed your husbands!" Here are already seven to whom you were given in marriage, and none of them have you been named. Why whip us on the pretext that your husbands are dead? Go join them: may we never see a son or a daughter of you! That day Sarra, heartbroken, began to cry. And she went up to the upper room of her father's house with the intention of hanging herself. But, on reflection, she said to herself: “Well, no! We would insult my father and tell him: “You only had one daughter, a very loved daughter, and she hanged herself because of her misfortunes!” I would thus bring my old father, full of sorrow, down to Sheol. Better for me not to hang myself, but to beg the Lord to kill me, so that I no longer have to hear such insults for life. Instantly she stretched out her hands to the window and said this prayer: 'Blessed are you, God of mercy; blessed be your name forever; may all your works bless you forever! At that precise moment, the prayer of both was brought into the presence of the glory of God where it was heard. And Raphael was sent to heal them both: to Tobith to remove the whitish veil that covered his eyes, so that with his eyes he might see the light of God, and to Sarra, Raguel's daughter, to give her in marriage to Tobit. , son of Tobith, and expel from her Asmodeus, the worst of demons; in fact, it was Tobias who had the right to marry him rather than all his suitors. blessed be your name forever; may all your works bless you forever! At that precise moment, the prayer of both was brought into the presence of the glory of God where it was heard. And Raphael was sent to heal them both: to Tobith to remove the whitish veil that covered his eyes, so that with his eyes he might see the light of God, and to Sarra, Raguel's daughter, to give her in marriage to Tobit. , son of Tobith, and expel from her Asmodeus, the worst of demons; in fact, it was Tobias who had the right to marry him rather than all his suitors. blessed be your name forever; may all your works bless you forever! At that precise moment, the prayer of both was brought into the presence of the glory of God where it was heard. And Raphael was sent to heal them both: to Tobith to remove the whitish veil that covered his eyes, so that with his eyes he might see the light of God, and to Sarra, Raguel's daughter, to give her in marriage to Tobit. , son of Tobith, and expel from her Asmodeus, the worst of demons; in fact, it was Tobias who had the right to marry him rather than all his suitors. And Raphael was sent to heal them both: to Tobith to remove the whitish veil that covered his eyes, so that with his eyes he might see the light of God, and to Sarra, Raguel's daughter, to give her in marriage to Tobit. , son of Tobith, and expel from her Asmodeus, the worst of demons; in fact, it was Tobias who had the right to marry him rather than all his suitors. And Raphael was sent to heal them both: to Tobith to remove the whitish veil that covered his eyes, so that with his eyes he might see the light of God, and to Sarra, Raguel's daughter, to give her in marriage to Tobit. , son of Tobith, and expel from her Asmodeus, the worst of demons; in fact, it was Tobias who had the right to marry him rather than all his suitors. 

- Word of the Lord.