Daily Mass Readings for March 18, 2026: Gospel — Jo 5, 17-30

⁸ This is what the Lord says: “At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you; in the day of deliverance I will help you; I will protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, to rebuild the land and to reassign the desolate property. ⁹ You will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those who are in dark dungeons, ‘Emerge.’ They will graze beside the roads; on all the slopes they will find pasture. 1 ⁰ They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, for one who has compassion on them will guide them; he will lead them to springs of water. 1 ¹ I will make all my mountains into a road; I will construct my roadways.” 1 ² Look, they come from far away! Look, some come from the north and west, and others from the land of Sinim. 1 ³ Shout for joy, O sky! Rejoice, O earth! Let the mountains give a joyful shout! For the Lord consoles his people and shows compassion to the oppressed. 1 ⁴ “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ 1 ⁵ Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!