Liturgical day: The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist · white vestments · solemnity
The Readings at Mass Today
First ReadingIsaiah 49:1-6
1Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother he has mentioned my name. 2He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver. 3He said to me, “You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4But I said, “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.” 5Now Yahweh says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel to him, for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes, and my God has become my strength. 6Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel? I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
Responsorial PsalmPsalms 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15
1Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. 2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 13For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. 14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. 15My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
Scripture shown in the World English Bible (public domain). The translation proclaimed at Mass in the United States is the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) — you can read it at Catholic Online.
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. Six months before Christmas (Luke 1:26). One of only three nativities celebrated in the Roman Calendar (with Christ and Mary) (USCCB Liturgical Calendar 2026).
Pray with the Church today
These are the readings appointed in the Catholic lectionary for Wednesday, June 24, 2026 — the same Scriptures proclaimed at every Catholic Mass around the world today. Reading and praying over them is one of the simplest ways to enter into the Church's daily liturgy, whether or not you are able to attend Mass in person.