Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Joshua 24.1-2a, 15-17, 18b

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,
summoning the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel.
and they presented themselves before God.
Joshua said to all the people,
“If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord,
choose today whom you will serve,
whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell,
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The people answered,
“Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods,
for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers
up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,
and who did those great signs in our sight,
and preserved us on the entire way which we went,
and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed.
The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples,
even the Amorites who lived in the land.
Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

Responsorial – Psalm 34.2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 Resp. 9a

R. O taste and see that the Lord is good.

I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise shall be always in my mouth.
In the Lord my soul will be joyful.
Let the meek hear and rejoice.

R. O taste and see that the Lord is good.

The eyes of the Lord are on the just,
and his ears are for their prayers.
But the face of the Lord is against evildoers,
to cut off remembrance of them from the earth.

R. I will bless the Lord at all times.

The just cried, and the Lord heard them,
and delivered them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted,
and he will save the humble of spirit.

R. O taste and see that the Lord is good.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He protects all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.

R. O taste and see that the Lord is good.

Reading 2 - Ephesians 5.21-32

Brothers and sisters:
Submit yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife,
and Christ also is the head of the Church,
he is the Savior of his body.
As the Church submits to Christ,
so let wives also be to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives,
just as Christ loved the Church,
and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her,
having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
so that he might present the Church to himself in glory,
having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that she would be holy and without defect.
Just so, husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his own wife loves himself.
For no one ever hated their own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it,
just as the Lord does the Church,
because we are members of his body.
“For this reason a human will leave his father and mother,
and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
This mystery is great: I speak concerning Christ and the Church.

Gospel – John 6.60-69

Many of Jesus’ disciples,
when they heard this, said,
“This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?”
But Jesus knowing in himself
that his disciples murmured at this,
said to them,
“Does this scandalize you?
Then what if you were to see
the Son of Human ascending
to where he was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life.
The flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you
are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you
who do not believe.”
For Jesus knew from the beginning
who did not believe,
and who it was who would betray him.
He said, “For this cause have I said to you
that no one can come to me,
unless it is given to them by my Father.”

At this, many of his disciples went back,
and walked no more with him.
Jesus said therefore to the Twelve,
“You do not also want to go away, do you?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Lord, to whom would we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and know
that you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”

No comments:

Post a Comment