February 21st, 2006, Saturday after Ash Wednesday.

Our reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah,

Thus says the Lord, if you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech,

if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you

in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday. Then the Lord will guide you always,

and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a

watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.

The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up.

Repair of the breach, they shall call you. Restore of ruined homesteads.

If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy

day, if you call the Sabbath a delight in the Lord's Holy Day honorable, if you honor

it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests or speaking with malice, then

you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make

you ride on the heights of the earth.

I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord

has spoken.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm.

The response is, teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

Incline your ear, O Lord, answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. Keep my life, for I am devoted to you.

Save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God.

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