November 25th, 2004. Monday of the 34th week in ordinary time. A reading from the book of Revelation.

I, John, looked and there was the lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and

his father's name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from

heaven, like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of

harpists playing their harps. They were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne,

before the four living

creatures and the elders.

No one could learn this hymn except the 144,000 who had been ransomed from the earth.

These are the ones who follow the lamb wherever he goes.

They have been ransomed as the first fruits of the human race for God and the lamb.

On their lips no deceit has been found. They are unblemished. The word of the Lord.

The responsorial psalm, the response is, Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

The Lord's are the earth and its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it, for he founded

it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord, or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are

sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain, Lord, this is the

people that longs to see your face. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God

his Savior, such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God

of Jacob. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

A reading from the Holy Gospel, according to Luke.

When Jesus looked up, he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings in the treasury, and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.

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