Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Wednesday of the 21st week of Ordinary Time
Readings for the universal ChurchGeneral Roman Calendar, used by Catholics worldwide
First Reading
6But we strongly caution you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to draw yourselves away from every brother who is walking in disorder and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know the manner in which you ought to imitate us. For we were not disorderly among you. 8Nor did we eat bread from anyone for free, but rather, we worked night and day, in hardship and weariness, so as not to be burdensome to you. 9It was not as if we had no authority, but this was so that we might present ourselves as an example to you, in order to imitate us. 10Then, too, while we were with you, we insisted on this to you: that if anyone was not willing to work, neither should he eat.
16Then may the Lord of peace himself give you an everlasting peace, in every place. May the Lord be with all of you. 17The greeting of Paul with my own hand, which is the seal in every epistle. So do I write. 18May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
1A Canticle in steps. Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways.
2For you will eat by the labors of your hands. Blessed are you, and it will be well with you.
4Behold, so will the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
5May the Lord bless you from Zion, and may you see the good things of Jerusalem, all the days of your life.
Gospel
27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed sepulchers, which outwardly appear brilliant to men, yet truly, inside, they are filled with the bones of the dead and with all filth. 28So also, you certainly appear to men outwardly to be just. But inwardly you are filled with hypocrisy and iniquity. 29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, who build the sepulchers of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the just. 30And then you say, ‘If we had been there in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31And so you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets. 32Complete, then, the measure of your fathers.
Same readings worldwide and in the United States.
Text: Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain). Reading citations: cpbjr/catholic-readings-api (MIT license). The Lectionary text used at Mass in the United States is the NABRE, which you can read at USCCB.