Daily Catholic Mass Readings for January 18, 2026
First Reading: Isaiah 49.3, 5-6
3And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified."5And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him--for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength--6he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
Psalm 40
1I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.4Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!5You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.6Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.7Then I said, "Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:8I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."9I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.10I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.11As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!12For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.13Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!14Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt!15Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, "Aha, Aha!"16But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, "Great is the LORD!"17As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1.1-3
1Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel: John 1.29-34
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!30This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.'31I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."32And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.33I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'34And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
Sermon
John the Baptist, standing at the Jordan, points to Jesus with profound clarity: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." His testimony, that Jesus is the Son of God upon whom the Spirit descends and remains, reveals the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. Indeed, the prophet Isaiah long foretold of a Servant chosen from the womb, not only to gather Israel but also to be a "light for the Gentiles, so that you may be my salvation, even to the furthest regions of the earth." John's encounter at the Jordan confirms that Jesus is this very Servant, the one whose mission extends far beyond the boundaries of one nation, bringing God's salvation to all humanity.
This universal call to salvation, prefigured by Isaiah and proclaimed by John, resonates deeply in Saint Paul's opening words to the Corinthians. Addressing them as "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints," Paul extends grace and peace to those who invoke the name of our Lord. These Gentile believers in Corinth are living proof of Isaiah's prophecy fulfilled – they are among the "furthest regions of the earth" now illuminated by Christ, the "light for the Gentiles." Their very existence as a church demonstrates that the mission of the Lamb of God, attested to by John, has borne fruit, drawing people from every background into God's family through the redemptive power of Jesus.
For us today, these readings invite us to recognize Jesus with the same conviction as John the Baptist. We are called not merely to acknowledge him as a historical figure, but to see him as the living Lamb of God who continues to take away the sins of the world and to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Just as John testified and the Servant was a light, we too are summoned to be instruments of God's grace and peace in our own lives, allowing His light to shine through our daily actions and interactions. This means embracing our identity as "saints" called to holiness, and bearing witness to the universal love of God, thereby participating in His ongoing mission of salvation for all people, even to the furthest regions of our own world.