Daily Mass Readings – Thursday, 14 January 2027

7 Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith: Today if you shall hear his voice,

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation; in the day of temptation in the desert,

9 Where your fathers tempted me, proved and saw my works,

10 Forty years: for which cause I was offended with this generation, and I said: They always err in heart. And they have not known my ways,

11 As I have sworn in my wrath: If they shall enter into my rest.

12 Take heed, brethren, lest perhaps there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God.

13 But exhort one another every day, whilst it is called today, that none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ: yet so, if we hold the beginning of his substance firm unto the end.

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

6 Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.

7c For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8 Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

9 As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

10 Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.

11 And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

23 Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down said to him: If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

41 And Jesus having compassion on him, stretched forth his hand; and touching him, saith to him: I will. Be thou made clean.

42 And when he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.

43 And he strictly charged him, and forthwith sent him away.

44 And he saith to him: See thou tell no one; but go, shew thyself to the high priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

45 But he being gone out, began to publish and to blaze abroad the word: so that he could not openly go into the city, but was without in desert places: and they flocked to him from all sides.

“Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” The warning is addressed to people who have seen God’s works yet still resisted his ways. Sin can quietly make the heart closed, suspicious, or unwilling to trust. That is why faith must be renewed today, and why we need one another’s encouragement to remain firm in Christ.

The leper shows what an open heart looks like. He comes to Jesus, kneels, and places his need before him: “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” He does not presume upon Jesus, but he trusts his power and mercy. Jesus responds with compassion, stretches out his hand, touches him, and says, “I will. Be thou made clean.” The Lord’s voice is not merely an instruction; it brings healing and restores a person to life among others. We can approach him with the same honest faith, allowing his word to expose what has hardened within us. Having received his mercy, we are then called to obey and to let our lives bear witness to what Christ has done.

Lord Jesus, I believe that you can make me clean. Keep my heart from becoming hardened through sin, pride, or unbelief. Give me the humility to kneel before you, speak honestly about my need, and trust your compassion. Help me hear your voice today and recognize the people who need encouragement to remain faithful. When you heal and restore me, teach me to receive your word with obedience and to witness to your mercy with a life that reflects your grace. Draw me ever more deeply into your rest and keep me firm in faith until the end. Amen.