Daily Mass Readings for March 19, 2026: Gospel — Mt 1, 16. 18-21. 24a

⁴ That night the Lord’s message came to Nathan, ⁵ “Go, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has said: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in? 1 2 :¹ So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, Nathan said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. ³ But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. It used to eat his food, drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. It was just like a daughter to him. ⁴ “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler who had come to visit him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked it for the man who had come to visit him.” ⁵ Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!” ⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘I chose you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well! ⁹ Why have you shown contempt for the Lord’s decrees by doing evil in my sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife to be your own wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 1 ⁰ So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’ 1 ¹ This is what the Lord has said: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household! Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will go to bed with your wives in broad daylight! 1 ² Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’” 1 ³ Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven your sin. You are not going to die. 1 ⁴ Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.” 1 ⁵ Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. 1 ⁶ Then David prayed to God for the child and fasted. He would even go and spend the night lying on the ground. 1 ⁷ The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them. 1 ⁸ On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” 1 ⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.” 2 ⁰ So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate. 2 ¹ His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!” 2 ² He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.’ 2 ³ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back at this point? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!” 2 ⁴ So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He came to her and went to bed with her. Later she gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child 2 ⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet that he should be named Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake. 2 ⁶ So Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city. 2 ⁷ Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city. 2 ⁸ So now assemble the rest of the army and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.” 2 ⁹ So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 3 ⁰ He took the crown of their king from his head—it was gold, weighed about 7 ⁵ pounds, and held a precious stone—and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder. 3 ¹ He removed the people who were in it and made them labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work at the brick kiln. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem. 1 3 :¹ Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her. ² But Amnon became frustrated because he was so lovesick over his sister Tamar. For she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her. ³ Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty man. ⁴ He asked Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed every morning? Can’t you tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar the sister of my brother Absalom.” ⁵ Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’” ⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came in to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight. Then I will eat from her hand.” ⁷ So David sent Tamar to the house saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother, who was lying down. She took the dough, kneaded it, made some cakes while he watched, and baked them. ⁹ But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat. Instead Amnon said, “Get everyone out of here!” So everyone left. 1 ⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the cakes into the bedroom; then I will eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes that she had prepared and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom. 1 ¹ As she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come on! Get in bed with me, my sister!” 1 ² But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing! 1 ³ How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools in Israel! Just speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 1 ⁴ But he refused to listen to her. He overpowered her and humiliated her by raping her. 1 ⁵ Then Amnon greatly despised her. His disdain toward her surpassed the love he had previously felt toward her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!” 1 ⁶ But she said to him, “No I won’t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!” But he refused to listen to her. 1 ⁷ He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight and lock the door behind her!” 1 ⁸ (Now she was wearing a long robe, for this is what the king’s virgin daughters used to wear.) So Amnon’s attendant removed her and bolted the door behind her. 1 ⁹ Then Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went on her way, wailing as she went. 2 ⁰ Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom. 2 ¹ Now King David heard about all these things and was very angry. 2 ² But Absalom said nothing to Amnon, either bad or good, yet Absalom hated Amnon because he had humiliated his sister Tamar. 2 ³ Two years later Absalom’s sheepshearers were in Baal Hazor, near Ephraim. Absalom invited all the king’s sons. 2 ⁴ Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. Let the king and his servants go with me.” 2 ⁵ But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom pressed him, the king was not willing to go. Instead, David blessed him. 2 ⁶ Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?” 2 ⁷ But when Absalom pressed him, he sent Amnon and all the king’s sons along with him. 2 ⁸ Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” 2 ⁹ So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had instructed. Then all the king’s sons got up; each one rode away on his mule and fled. 3 ⁰ While they were still on their way, the following report reached David: “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons; not one of them is left!” 3 ¹ Then the king stood up and tore his garments and lay down on the ground. All his servants were standing there with torn garments as well. 3 ² Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about from the day that Amnon humiliated his sister Tamar. 3 ³ Now don’t let my lord the king be concerned about the report that has come saying, ‘All the king’s sons are dead.’ It is only Amnon who is dead.” 3 ⁴ In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west on a road beside the hill. 3 ⁵ Jonadab said to the king, “Look! The king’s sons have come! It’s just as I said.” 3 ⁶ Just as he finished speaking, the king’s sons arrived, wailing and weeping. The king and all his servants wept loudly as well. 3 ⁷ But Absalom fled and went to King Talmai son of Ammihud of Geshur. And David grieved over his son every day. 3 ⁸ After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he remained there for three years. 3 ⁹ The king longed to go to Absalom, for he had since been consoled over the death of Amnon. 1 4 :¹ Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king longed to see Absalom. ² So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ³ Go to the king and speak to him in the following fashion.” Then Joab told her what to say. ⁴ So the Tekoan woman went to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, O king!” ⁵ The king replied to her, “What do you want?” She answered, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶ Your servant has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him. ⁷ Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.” ⁸ Then the king told the woman, “Go to your home. I will give instructions concerning your situation.” ⁹ The Tekoan woman said to the king, “My lord the king, let any blame fall on me and on the house of my father. But let the king and his throne be innocent!” 1 ⁰ The king said, “Bring to me whoever speaks to you, and he won’t bother you again!” 1 ¹ She replied, “In that case, let the king invoke the name of the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not add to the killing! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.” 1 ² Then the woman said, “Please permit your servant to speak to my lord the king about another matter.” He replied, “Tell me.” 1 ³ The woman said, “Why have you devised something like this against God’s people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished. 1 ⁴ Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored. 1 ⁵ I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant asks. 1 ⁶ Yes! The king may listen and deliver his female servant from the hand of the man who seeks to remove both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’ 1 ⁷ So your servant said, ‘May the word of my lord the king be my security, for my lord the king is like the angel of God when it comes to deciding between right and wrong! May the Lord your God be with you!’” 1 ⁸ Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 1 ⁹ The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth. 2 ⁰ Your servant Joab did this so as to change this situation. But my lord has wisdom like that of the angel of God, and knows everything that is happening in the land.” 2 ¹ Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I will do this thing. Go and bring back the young man Absalom!” 2 ² Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant!” 2 ³ So Joab got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. 2 ⁴ But the king said, “Let him go over to his own house. He may not see my face.” So Absalom went over to his own house; he did not see the king’s face. 2 ⁵ Now in all Israel everyone acknowledged that there was no man as handsome as Absalom. From the soles of his feet to the top of his head he was perfect in appearance. 2 ⁶ When he would shave his head—at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long and he would shave it—he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds according to the king’s weight. 2 ⁷ Absalom had three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman. 2 ⁸ Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without seeing the king’s face. 2 ⁹ Then Absalom sent a message to Joab asking him to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent a second message to him, but he still was not willing to come. 3 ⁰ So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s portion of the field on fire. 3 ¹ Then Joab got up and came to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why did your servants set my portion of field on fire?” 3 ² Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent a message to you saying, ‘Come here so that I can send you to the king with this message: “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.”’ Let me now see the face of the king. If I am at fault, let him put me to death!” 3 ³ So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. 1 6 :¹ When David had gone a short way beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a couple of donkeys that were saddled, and on them were 2 0 ⁰ loaves of bread, 1 0 ⁰ raisin cakes, 1 0 ⁰ baskets of summer fruit, and a container of wine. ² The king asked Ziba, “Why did you bring these things?” Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on, the loaves of bread and the summer fruit are for the attendants to eat, and the wine is for those who get exhausted in the desert.” ³ The king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” Ziba replied to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give back to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’” ⁴ The king said to Ziba, “Everything that was Mephibosheth’s now belongs to you.” Ziba replied, “I bow before you. May I find favor in your sight, my lord the king.” ⁵ Then King David reached Bahurim. There a man from Saul’s extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached. ⁶ He threw stones at David and all of King David’s servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left. ⁷ As he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man! ⁸ The Lord has punished you for all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule. Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed!” ⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!” 1 ⁰ But the king said, “What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!,’ who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this?’” 1 ¹ Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son, my very own flesh and blood, is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him. 1 ² Perhaps the Lord will notice my affliction and this day grant me good in place of his curse.” 1 ³ So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them. 1 ⁴ The king and all the people who were with him arrived exhausted at their destination, where David refreshed himself. 1 ⁵ Now when Absalom and all the men of Israel arrived in Jerusalem, Ahithophel was with him. 1 ⁶ When David’s friend Hushai the Arkite came to Absalom, Hushai said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 1 ⁷ Absalom said to Hushai, “Do you call this loyalty to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?” 1 ⁸ Hushai replied to Absalom, “No, I will be loyal to the one whom the Lord, these people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. 1 ⁹ Moreover, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.” 2 ⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?” 2 ¹ Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to care for the palace. All Israel will hear that you have made yourself repulsive to your father. Then your followers will be motivated to support you.” 2 ² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 2 ³ In those days Ahithophel’s advice was considered as valuable as a prophetic revelation. Both David and Absalom highly regarded the advice of Ahithophel.

1 ³ For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 1 ⁶ For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants—not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 1 :¹ From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. ² This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, ³ concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh, ⁴ who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him we have received grace and our apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name. ⁶ You also are among them, called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all those loved by God in Rome, called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! ⁸ First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. ⁹ For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is my witness that I continually remember you, 1 ⁰ and I always ask in my prayers if, perhaps now at last, I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. 1 ¹ For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 1 ² that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith, both yours and mine. 1 ³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles. 1 ⁴ I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 1 ⁵ Thus I am eager also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. 1 ⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 1 ⁷ For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” 1 ⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 1 ⁹ because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 2 ⁰ For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. 2 ¹ For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 2 ² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 2 ³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 2 ⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. 2 ⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 2 ⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, 2 ⁷ and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 2 ⁸ And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 2 ⁹ They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 3 ⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 3 ¹ senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless. 3 ² Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.