Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (I)

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Sirach 17.1-15

The Lord created man from the earth, and he returned him to it again.
He endowed them with independent strength, and made them according to his image,
Limited days of life he gives him, with power over all things else on earth.
and put the fear of man upon all flesh, and gave him dominion over beasts and birds.
He gave them counsel, and a tongue, and eyes, ears, and a heart for understanding.
He filled them with the knowledge and understanding.
He created in them knowledge of the spirit.
With wisdom he fills their heart, and showed them good and evil.
He set his eye upon their hearts, that he might show them the greatness of his works.
He gave it to them to glory in his marvelous acts forever,
that they might declare his works with understanding, and the elect shall praise his holy name.
Besides this he gave them knowledge, and the law of life for a heritage.
He made an everlasting covenant with them, and showed them his judgments.
Their eyes saw the majesty of his glory, and their ears heard his glorious voice.
And he said to them, “Beware of all unrighteousness”,
and he gave every man a commandment concerning his neighbor.
Their ways are ever before him, and shall not be hid from his eyes.
In the division of the nations of the whole earth he set a ruler over every people,
but Israel is the Lord's portion.
All their works are as the sun before him,
and his eyes are continually upon their ways.

Responsorial – Psalm 103.13-14, 15-16, 17-18 Resp. 17

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

Like a father has compassion on his children,
so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
For he knows how we are made.
He remembers that we are dust.

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

As for man, his days are like grass.
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone.
Its place remembers it no more.

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

But the Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him,
his righteousness to children’s children;
to those who keep his covenant,
to those who remember to obey his precepts.

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

Gospel – Mark 10.13-16

They were bringing little children to him, that he should touch them,
but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them,
“Allow the little children to come to me! Do not forbid them!
For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen I say to you, whoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child,
will in no way enter into it.”
He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (I)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Sirach 6.5-17

A pleasant voice multiplies friends and appeases enemies,
and a gracious tongue multiplies greetings.
Let those who are at peace with you be many, but let your confidants be one in a thousand.
When you gain a friend, gain him through testing, and do not trust him hastily.
For there is a friend who is such at his own convenience,
but will not stand by you in your day of trouble.
And there is a friend who changes into an enemy, and will disclose a quarrel to your disgrace.
And there is a friend who is a table companion, but will not stand by you in your day of trouble.
In your prosperity he will make himself your equal, and be bold with your servants,
but if you are brought low he will turn against you, and will hide himself from your presence.
Keep yourself far from your enemies, and be on guard toward your friends.
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he that has found one has found a treasure.
There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence.
A faithful friend is an elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find him.
Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, for as he is, so is his friend also.

Responsorial – Psalm 119.12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35 Resp. 35a

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

Blessed are you, O Lord.
Teach me your statutes.

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

I will delight myself in your statutes.
I will not forget your word.

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

Open my eyes,
that I may see wonders of your law.

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

Let me understand the teaching of your precepts!
Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law.
Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

Direct me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in them.

R. Lord, guide me on the path of your commandments.

Gospel – Mark 10.1-12

Jesus came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan.
Crowds came together to him again.
As he usually did, he was again teaching them.

Pharisees came to him and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his woman?”
He answered, “What did Moses command you?”
They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.”
But Jesus said to them,
“For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a human will leave his father and mother, and will join to his woman,
and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, no human may separate.”

In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter.
He said to them, “Whoever divorces his woman, and marries another,
commits adultery against her.
If a woman divorces her man, and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (I)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Sirach 5.1-8

Do not set your heart on your wealth, nor say, “I have enough.”
Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart.
Do not say, “Who will have power over me?”
or, “Who will subdue me for my deeds?”
for the Lord will surely punish you.
Do not say, “I sinned, and what happened to me?” for the Lord is slow to anger.
Do not be so confident of atonement that you add sin to sin.
Do not say, “His mercy is great, he will forgive the multitude of my sins,”
for both mercy and wrath are with him, and his anger rests on sinners.
Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day;
for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth,
and at the time of punishment you will perish.
Do not depend on dishonest wealth, for it will not benefit you in the day of calamity. 

Responsorial – Psalm 1.1-2, 3, 4+6 Resp. 40.5a

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand on the sinners’ path,
nor sit in the scoffers’ seat,
but whose delight is in the Lord’s law.
On his law he meditates day and night.

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

He will be like a tree
planted by the streams of water,
that produces its fruit in its season,
whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does shall prosper.

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

The wicked are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
For the Lord watches the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall perish.

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

Gospel – Mark 9.41-50

Jesus said to his disciples:
For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink, because you are Christ’s,
amen I tell you, they will certainly not lose their reward.
Whoever ensnares one of these little ones who believe in me,
it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea
with a millstone hung around his neck.
If your hand ensnares you, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed,
rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.
If your foot ensnares you, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life lame,
rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna.
If your eye ensnares you, pluck it out.
It is better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye,
rather than with two eyes to be cast into Gehenna
‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
For everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is beautiful, but if the salt has lost its saltiness,
how will you make it salty again?
Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (I)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Sirach 4.11-19

Wisdom exalts her sons and gives help to those who seek her.
Whoever loves her loves life, and those who seek her early will be filled with joy.
Whoever holds her fast will obtain glory, and the Lord will bless the place she enters.
Those who serve her will minister to the Holy One;
the Lord loves those who love her.
He obeys her will judge the nations, and whoever gives heed to her will dwell secure.
If they have faith in her, they will obtain her,
and their descendants will remain in possession of her.
For at first she will walk with him on tortuous paths,
she will bring fear and cowardice upon him,
and will torment him by her discipline
until she trusts him and tests him with her laws.
Then she will come straight back to him and gladden him,
and will reveal her secrets to him.
If he goes astray she will forsake him, and hand him over to his ruin.

Responsorial – Psalm 119.165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175 Resp. 165a

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

Those who love your law have great peace.
Nothing causes them to stumble.

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

I have obeyed your precepts and your testimonies,
for all my ways are before you.

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

Let my lips utter praise,
for you teach me your statutes.

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

Let my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commandments are righteousness.

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

I have longed for your salvation, O Lord.
Your law is my delight.

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

My soul shall live and shall praise thee:
and your decrees shall help me.

R. O Lord, those who love your law have great peace.

Gospel – Mark 9.38-40

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,
and we forbade him, because he does not follow us.”
But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him,
for there is no one who will do a mighty work in my name,
and be able at the same time to speak evil of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.”

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (I)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Sirach 2.1-11

My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord,
stand in justice and fear and prepare yourself for trials.
Set your heart right and be steadfast.
Incline your ear and receive the word of understanding.
Do not be hasty in time of calamity.
Wait for God and cling to him and do not depart,
that you may be honored at the end of your life.

Accept whatever befalls you,
when sorrowful, be steadfast,
and in changes that humble you be patient.
For gold and silver are tested in the fire,
and worthy men in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust in him, and he will help you;
make your ways straight, and hope in him.
keep his fear and grow old therein.

You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; and turn not aside, lest you fall.
You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not fail;
you who fear the Lord, hope for good things, for everlasting joy and mercy.
Consider the ancient generations and see:
who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame?
Or who ever persevered in the fear of the Lord and was forsaken?
Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked?
For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.
He is a protector to all who seek him in truth.

Responsorial – Psalm 37.3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40 Resp. 5ac

R. Commit your way to the Lord, and he will act.

Trust in the Lord, and do good.
Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

R. Commit your way to the Lord, and he will act.

The Lord knows the days of the perfect.
Their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil.
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.

Depart from evil, and do good.
Live securely forever.
For the Lord loves justice,
and does not forsake his saints.

R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord.
He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
The Lord helps them, and rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
Because they have taken refuge in him.

R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.

Gospel – Mark 9.30-37

Jesus and his disciples went away from there and passed through Galilee.
He did not want anyone to know it.
For he was teaching his disciples and said to them,
“The Son of Human is being handed over into the hands of humans,
and they will kill him,
and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again.”

They did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them,
“What were you arguing among yourselves on the way?”
But they were silent, for they had disputed one with another on the way
about who was the greatest.
He sat down, and called the Twelve; and he said to them,
“If anyone wants to be first, they shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
He took an infant and stood him in their midst.
Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one such infant in my name,
receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (I)

Official Translation

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 – Sirach 1.1-10

All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him forever, and is before all time.
The sand of the sea, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity—who can count them?
The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the depths of the abyss—who can search them out?
Wisdom was created before all things, and prudent understanding from eternity.
The word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom
and her ways are everlasting.
The root of wisdom—to whom has it been revealed?
Her clever devices—who knows them?
To whom has the discipline of wisdom been revealed?
And who has understood the multiplicity of her ways?
There is One who is wise, greatly to be feared, sitting upon his throne.
There is but one, Most High
all-powerful creator-king and truly awe-inspiring one,
seated upon his throne and he is the God of dominion.
The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her,
he poured her out upon all his works.
She dwells with all flesh according to his gift,
and he supplied her to those who love him.

Responsorial – Psalm 93.1ab, 1cd-2, 5 Resp. 1a

R. The Lord reigns! He is clothed with majesty!

The Lord reigns! He is clothed with majesty!
The Lord is robed and armed with strength.

R. The Lord reigns! He is clothed with majesty!

The world he has established.
It cannot be moved.
Your throne is established from long ago.
You are from everlasting, O Lord.

R. The Lord reigns! He is clothed with majesty!

Your statutes are very trustworthy.
Holiness adorns your house,
O Lord, forever more.

R. The Lord reigns! He is clothed with majesty!

Gospel – Mark 9.14-29

As Jesus came down the mountain
with Peter, James, and John,
coming to the other disciples,
he saw a great crowd around them,
and scribes questioning them.
Immediately all the crowd,
when they saw him, were greatly amazed,
and running to him greeted him.

He asked the scribes, “What are you asking them?”
One of the crowd answered,
“Teacher, I brought to you my son,
who has a mute spirit;
and wherever it seizes him,
it throws him down,
and he foams at the mouth,
and grinds his teeth, and wastes away.
I asked your disciples to cast it out,
but they were not able.”

He answered him,
“Unbelieving kind,
how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I bear with you?
Bring him to me.”
They brought him to him,
and when he saw him,
immediately the spirit convulsed him,
and he fell on the ground,
wallowing and foaming at the mouth.
He asked his father,
“How long has it been since this has come to him?”
He said, “From childhood.
Often it has cast him both
into the fire and into the water,
to destroy him.
But if you are able to do anything,
have compassion on us, and help us.”

Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?!’Everything is possible by faith.”
Immediately the father of the child, crying, said,
“I do believe. Help my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw
that a crowd was gathering,
he rebuked the unclean spirit,
saying to him,
“You mute and deaf spirit,
I command you, come out of him,
and never enter him again!”
Crying, and heaving greatly,
it came out.
The boy became like one dead;
so much that most of them said
that he had died.
But Jesus took his hand
and raised him up, and he got up.
When he had come into the house,
his disciples asked him by himself,
“Why were we not able to cast it out?”
He said to them,
“That kind cannot come out at all
except by prayer and fasting.”

Posts

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Ezekiel 47.1-9,12

The angel brought me back to the gate of the temple,
and behold waters flowed out
from under the threshold of the temple toward the east
(for the front of the house looked toward the east),
but the waters came down to the south side of the temple
to the south part of the altar.

And he led me out by the way of the north gate,
and he took me to the outward gate
which looked toward the east,
and behold water was trickling out on the south side.

He went out eastward with the line in his hand.
He measured one thousand cubits
and had me to pass through the waters,
waters that were up to the ankles.
Again he measured one thousand
and had me to pass through the waters,
waters that were up to the knees.
Again he measured one thousand
and had me to pass through waters,
waters that were up to the waist.
Afterward he measured one thousand,
but it was a river that I could not pass through,
for the waters had risen.
They were waters to swim in,
a river that could not be waded through.
He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen?”
Then he brought me
and had me return to the bank of the river.
Now when I had returned, behold,
on the bank of the river were very many trees
on the one side and on the other.

And he said to me,
“These waters flow toward the east
and go down to the Arabah,
and go into the sea.
Where it enters the sea, the water will be fresh,
and every living creature whatsoever that crawls
will live wherever the river goes
and there shall be abundant fish.
Where this river goes, the water will become fresh,
and all things shall live.

And by the river, on its banks,
on both sides
all fruit-bearing trees will grow.
Their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail.
Every month they will bring forth fruit,
because they will be watered from the flow out of the sanctuary,
and their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for medicine.

Responsorial - Psalm 46:2-3,5-6,8-9 Resp. 8

R. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our protector.

Our God is our refuge and strength,
a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth quakes,
and the mountains fall into the depths of the sea.

R. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our protector.

The stream of the river makes the city of God joyful,
the most High has sanctified his own dwelling.
God is in the midst of it; it shall not be disturbed.
God will help it in the early morning.

R. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our protector.

The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our protector.
Come and behold the works of the Lord,
the wonders he has done upon earth,

R. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our protector.

Gospel – John 5.1-16

There was a feast of the Jews,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate,
there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”,
having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude
of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed.

A certain human was there,
who had been sick for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been sick for a long time,
he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”
The sick human answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up,
but while I am going, another steps down before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately, the human was made well,
and took up his mat and walked.

Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
So the Jews said to him who was cured,
“It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry that mat.”
He answered them,
“He who made me well said to me,
‘Take up your mat, and walk.’”
Then they asked him,
“Who is the human who said to you,
‘Take up your mat, and walk’?”
But he who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple,
and said to him, “Behold, you are made well.
Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
The human went away, and told the Jews
that it was Jesus who had made him well.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus,
and sought to kill him,
because he did these things on the Sabbath.

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Hosea 6.1-6

“Come, and let us return to Yahweh;
for he has torn us to pieces,
but he will heal us;
he has injured us,
but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
and we will live before him.

Let us acknowledge the Lord.
Let us press on to know the Lord.
As surely as the sun rises,
the Lord will appear.
He will come to us like the rain,
like the spring rain that waters the earth.”

Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your love is like a morning cloud,
and like the dew that disappears early.
Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets;
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Responsorial – Psalm 51.3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab Resp. Hosea 6:6

R. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin.

R. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.

For you do not delight in sacrifice.
I would give a burnt offering, but you have no pleasure in it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

R. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.

Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
in burnt offerings and in holocausts.

R. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.

Gospel - Luke 18.9-14

Jesus spoke this parable
to those who were convinced
of their own righteousness,
and who despised all others.
“Two humans went up
into the temple to pray;
one was a Pharisee,
and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood
and prayed to himself like this:
‘God, I thank you,
that I am not like the rest of the humans:
extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week.
I give tithes of all that I get.’
But the tax collector, standing far away,
would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying,
‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Hosea 14.2-10

Thus says the LORD:
Israel, return to Lord your God;
for you have fallen because of your sin.
Take words with you,
and return to the Lord.
Tell him, “Forgive all our sins,
and accept that which is good:
so we might offer bulls from our stalls.
Assyria cannot save us.
We will not ride on horses;
nor will we say anymore
to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’
for in you the fatherless finds mercy.”

“I will heal their waywardness,” says the Lord,
“I will love them freely.
My anger is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel.
He will blossom like the lily,
and send down his roots like the Lebanon cedar.
His branches will spread,
and his beauty will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Men will dwell in his shade.
They will revive like the grain,
and blossom like the vine.
Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim, what has he to do anymore with idols?
I answer, and will take care of him.
‘I am like a green fir tree’?
from me your fruit is found.”

Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
Who is prudent, that he may know them?
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and the righteous walk in them;
But the sinners stumble in them.

Responsorial – Psalm 81.6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14+17 Resp. 11a+9a

R. I am the Lord, your God. Listen to me!

I heard a tongue that I did not know.
“I removed his shoulder from the burden.
His hands were freed from the basket.
You called in trouble, and I delivered you.”

R. I am the Lord, your God. Listen to me!

I answered you with thunder in the secret place.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will testify to you,
Israel, if you would listen to me!

R. I am the Lord, your God. Listen to me!

There shall be no strange god among you,
nor shall you worship any foreign god.
I am the Lord, your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

R. I am the Lord, your God. Listen to me!

Oh that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
I would feed them with the finest of the wheat.
I would satisfy you with honey out of the rock.

R. I am the Lord, your God. Listen to me!

Gospel – Mark 12.28-34

One of the scribes came,
and asked Jesus,
“Which commandment is the first of all?”
Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, Israel,
the Lord our God, is Lord alone:
you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
This is the first commandment.

The second is like it,
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment
greater than these.”
The scribe said to him,
“Truly, teacher,
you have said well that he is one,
and there is none other but he,
and to love him with all the heart,
and with all the understanding,
with all the soul,
and with all the strength,
and to love their neighbor as themself,
is more important than all
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he answered wisely,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
No one dared ask him any question after that.

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Jeremiah 7.23-28

Thus says the LORD:

“This I commanded my people, saying,
‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God,
and you shall be my people,
and walk in all the way that I command you,
that it may be well with you.’

But they did not listen nor turn their ear,
but walked in their own counsels
and in the stubbornness of their evil heart,
and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers
came out of the land of Egypt to this day,
I have sent to you all my servants the prophets,
daily rising up early and sending them:
yet they did not listen to me,
nor inclined their ear,
but made their neck stiff:
they did worse than their fathers.

You shall speak all these words to them,
but they will not listen to you;
you shall also call to them,
but they will not answer you.
You shall tell them,
‘This is the nation
that has not listened to the voice
of the Lord their God,
nor received instruction.
Faithfulness has perished,
and is cut off from their mouth.’”

Responsorial – Psalm 95.1-2, 6-7, 7-9 Resp. 8

R. Today, if you would hear his voice, harden not your heart.

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord.
Let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.
Let us extol him with songs!

R. Today, if you would hear his voice, harden not your heart.

Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker,
for he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care.

R. Today, if you would hear his voice, harden not your heart.

Today, oh that you would hear his voice!
Do not harden your heart, as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers tempted me,
they tested me though they saw my works.

R. Today, if you would hear his voice, harden not your heart.

Gospel – Luke 11.14-23

Jesus was casting out
a demon that was mute.
When the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke;
and the crowds marveled.

But some of them said,
“He casts out demons through Beelzebul,
the prince of the demons.”
Others, testing him,
sought from him a sign from heaven.
But he, knowing their thoughts,
said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself
is brought to desolation.
A house divided against itself falls.
If Satan also is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?

For you say that I cast out demons through Beelzebul,
but if I cast out demons through Beelzebul,
by whom do your sons cast them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if by the finger of God
I cast out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come to you.

When the strong one,
fully armed, guards his own dwelling,
his goods are at peace.
But when someone stronger
attacks him and overcomes him,
he takes from him his whole armor
on which he depended
and divides his plunder.
The one that is not with me is against me.
The one who does not gather with me scatters.”

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, listen
to the statutes and to the ordinances,
which I teach you to do;
that you may live and go in
and possess the land
which the Lord, the God of your fathers,
gives you.
Behold, I have taught you
statutes and ordinances,
even as the Lord my God
commanded me,
that you should do so in the land
which you go to possess.
Keep therefore and do them;
for this is your wisdom
and your understanding
in the sight of the peoples,
who shall hear all these statutes, and say,
‘Surely this great nation is
a wise and understanding people.’
For what great nation is there,
that has a god so near to them,
as the Lord our God is to us
whenever we call on him?
What great nation is there
that has statutes and ordinances
as righteous as all this law,
which I set before you this day?

But be careful
and keep your soul diligently,
lest you forget the things
which your eyes saw,
and lest they depart from your heart
all the days of your life;
but make them known to your children
and your children’s children.”

Responsorial – Psalm 147.12-13, 15-16, 19-20 Resp. 12a

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Praise your God, Zion!
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates.
He has blessed your children within you.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

He sends out his commandment to the earth.
His word runs very swiftly.
He spreads snow out like wool;
he scatters the frost like ashes.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

He shows his word to Jacob;
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done this for any other nation.
They do not know his ordinances.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Gospel – Matthew 5.17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that
I came to destroy
the law or the prophets.
I came not to destroy but to fulfill.
For most certainly, I tell you,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not even one iota or one comma
shall in any way pass away from the law,
until all things are accomplished.
Whoever, therefore, shall break
one of these least commandments
and teach others to do so,
shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven;
but whoever shall do and teach them
shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Daniel 3.25, 34-43

Then Azariah stood up and prayed in this way;
and opening his mouth
in the middle of the fire, he said,

“Yet do not deliver us up completely,
for the sake of your name,
nor completely annul your covenant.
And do not cause your mercy to depart from us,
for the sake of your beloved Abraham,
for the sake of your servant Isaac,
and for the sake of your holy Israel,
to whom you have spoken and promised
that you would multiply their seed
as the stars of heaven
and as the sand which lies upon the seashore.

For we, O Lord, have become less than any nation
and are oppressed this day in all the world
because of our sins.
Nor is there at this time any prince, prophet, or leader,
any burnt offering or sacrifice, oblation or incense,
or place to sacrifice before you in order to find mercy.

Nevertheless, with a contrite heart and a humble spirit,
let us be accepted.
Just as in the burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
and just as in myriads of fat lambs,
so let it be with our sacrifice in your sight this day;
and grant that we may completely follow you,
for those who put their trust in you
shall not be dismayed.

And now we follow you with all our heart;
we fear you and seek your face.
Do not put us to shame,
but deal with us according to your loving kindness
and according to the multitude of your mercies.
Deliver us also according to your marvelous works
and give glory to your name, O Lord.”

Responsorial – Psalm 25.4-5ab, 6+7bc, 8-9 Resp. 6a

R. Lord, remember your tender mercies.

Show me your ways, O Lord.
Teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth, and teach me,
For you are the God of my salvation,

R. Lord, remember your tender mercies.

Lord, remember your tender mercies
and your loving kindness, they are from of old.
Remember me according to your loving kindness,
for your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

R. Lord, remember your tender mercies.

Good and upright is the Lord,
therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.
He will guide the humble in justice.
He will teach the humble his way.

R. Lord, remember your tender mercies.

Gospel – Matthew 18.21-35

Then Peter came and said to him,
“Lord, how often should I forgive
my brother when he sins against me?
Even seven times?”
Jesus said to him,
“I do not tell you ‘even seven times’,
but, even seventy times seven.
Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king,
who wanted to reconcile accounts
with his servants.
When he had begun to reconcile,
one was brought to him who owed him
ten thousand talents.
But because he could not pay,
his lord commanded him to be sold,
with his wife, his children, and all that he had,
and payment be made.
The servant therefore fell down
and kneeled before him, saying,
‘Lord, have patience with me,
and I will repay you all!’
The lord of that servant,
being moved with compassion,
released him and forgave him the debt.

But that servant went out,
and found one of his fellow servants,
who owed him one hundred denarii,
and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat,
saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
So his fellow servant fell down at his feet
and begged him, saying,
‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’
He would not but went and cast him into prison,
until he should pay back what was due.
So when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were exceedingly upset,
and came and told their lord all that had happened.

So his lord called him in, and said to him,
‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant,
even as I had mercy on you?’
His lord was angry and delivered him to the tormentors,
until he should pay all that was due to him.
So my heavenly Father will do to you as well,
if each of you does not forgive their brother or sister from your heart.”

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – 2 Kings 5.1-15ab

Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram,
was a great man with his master and honorable,
because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram.
He was a mighty man of valor, but also a leper.
The Arameans had gone out in bands,
and had brought away captive
out of the land of Israel
a little girl and she waited on Naaman's wife.
She said to her mistress,
“Would that my master
were with the prophet who is in Samaria!
Then he would recover from his leprosy.
Naaman went in, and told his master, saying,
“‘Thus and so’ said the maiden who is of the land of Israel.
The king of Aram said,
“Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
He departed and took with him
ten talents of silver
and six thousand pieces of gold,
and ten changes of clothing.
He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying,
“Now when this letter is come to you,
behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

When the king of Israel had read the letter,
he tore his clothes and said,
“Am I God, to kill and to make alive,
that this man sends a man to me to cure him of his leprosy?
Consider, I ask you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”
When Elisha the man of God heard
that the king of Israel had torn his clothes,
he sent to the king, saying,
“Why have you torn your clothes?
Let him come now to me,
and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots
and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,
“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times,
and your flesh shall return to you,
and you shall be clean.”
But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said,
“Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me,
and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God,
and wave his hand over the place
and cure the leprosy.’
Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel?
May I not wash in them and be clean?”
So he turned and went away in a rage.

His servants came near,
and spoke to him and said,
“My father, if the prophet had asked you
to do some great thing, would you not have done it?
How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’”
So he went down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan,
according to the saying of the man of God;
and his flesh returned like the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean.

He returned to the man of God,
he and all his company,
and came, and stood before him;
and he said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”

Responsorial – Psalm 42.2, 3; 43.3, 4 Resp. 42.3

R. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come to see the face of God?

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so my soul pants after you, God.

R. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come to see the face of God?

My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come to see the face of God?

R. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come to see the face of God?

O send out your light and your truth.
Let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling.

R. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come to see the face of God?

Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my exceeding joy.
I will praise you on the harp,
O God, my God.

R. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come to see the face of God?


Gospel – Luke 4.24-30

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen I say to you,
no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
Truly I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,
when the sky was shut up three and a half years,
when a great famine came over all the land.
Elijah was sent to none of them, but rather to Zarephath,
in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
And there were many lepers in Israel
in the time of Elisha the prophet,
yet not one of them was cleansed,
but rather Naaman, the Syrian.”

Those in the synagogue were all filled with wrath
when they heard these things.
They rose up, threw him out of the city
and led him to the brow of the hill
that their city was built on,
that they might throw him off the cliff.
But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.

Third Sunday of Lent (C)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Exodus 3.1-8a, 13-15

Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,
and he led the flock to the west of the wilderness and came to God's mountain, to Horeb.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.
He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see,
God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am."
He said, “Do not come close.
Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel,
and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’
and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO AM,”
and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this:
‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.’
This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

Responsorial – Psalm 103.1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 11 Resp. 8a

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

Praise The Lord, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Praise The Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

He forgives all your sins;
he heals all your diseases;
he redeems your life from destruction;
he crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

The Lord brings about righteousness,
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the children of Israel.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

Reading 2 – 1 Corinthians 10.1-6, 10-12

I would not have you ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud,
and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink.
For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them,
and the rock was Christ.
However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things were our examples, so that we should not desire evil, as they desired.

Do not grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.
Now all these things happened to them by way of example,
and they were written for our admonition,
on whom the ends of the ages have come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Gospel – Luke 13.1-9

Now there were some present at that time who told him
about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans
were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them,
do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”

He spoke this parable.
“Someone had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,
and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.
He said to the vine dresser,
‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none.
Cut it down. Why should it waste the soil?’
He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also,
until I dig around it, and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit, fine, but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Micah 7.14-15, 18-20

Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your heritage,
who dwell by themselves in a forest,
in the middle of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt,
show us marvelous things.

Who is like you, O God,
who pardons iniquity,
and passes over the disobedience
of the remnant of his heritage,
who does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in loving kindness,
who will again have compassion on us,
who will tread our iniquities under foot?

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob,
and mercy to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.

Responsorial – Psalm 103.1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 Resp. 8a

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

Praise The Lord, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Praise The Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

He forgives all your sins;
he heals all your diseases;
he redeems your life from destruction;
he crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

He will not always accuse;
nor will he stay angry forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our guilt.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

R. The Lord is merciful and gracious.

Gospel – Luke 15.1-3, 11-32

Now the tax collectors and sinners, draw near to Jesus, heard him,
and the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable, saying:

“There was a human who had two sons.
The younger of them said to his father,
‘Father, give me my share of your property.’
He divided his life between them.
Not many days after,
the younger son gathered all of this together
and traveled into a far country.
There he wasted his property with careless living.

When he had spent all of it,
there arose a severe famine in that country,
and he began to be in need.
He went and joined himself
to one of the citizens of that country,
who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
He longed to fill his belly
with the carob-pods that the pigs ate,
but no one gave him any.

But when he came to himself he said,
‘How many hired servants of my father
have bread enough to spare,
and I am dying with hunger!
I will get up and go to my father,
and will tell him,
“Father, I have sinned
against heaven and in your sight.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me as one of your hired servants.”’

He arose, and came to his father.
But while he was still far off,
his father saw him
and was moved with compassion,
and ran and hugged his neck and kissed him.
The son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in your sight.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants,
‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him.
Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf, kill it,
and let us eat and celebrate;
for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again.
He was lost, and is found.’
They began to celebrate.

Now his elder son was in the field.
As he came near to the house,
he heard music and dancing.
He called one of the servants to him,
and asked what was going on.
He said to him, ‘Your brother has come,
and your father has killed the fattened calf,
because he has received him back safe and healthy.’
But he was angry, and would not go in.

Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
But he answered his father,
‘Behold, these many years I have served you,
and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours,
but you never gave me a goat,
that I might celebrate with my friends.
But when this, your son, came,
who has devoured your living with prostitutes,
you killed the fattened calf for him.’
He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me,
and all that is mine is yours.
But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad,
for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again.
He was lost, and is found.’”

Friday of the Second Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Genesis 37.3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons,
because he was the son of his old age,
and he made him a coat of many colors.
His brothers saw that their father loved him
more than all his brothers,
and they hated him
and could not speak peaceably to him.

His brothers went to feed
their father’s flock in Shechem.
Israel said to Joseph,
“Your brothers are feeding the flock in Shechem,
are they not?
Come, and I will send you to them.”

Joseph went after his brothers,
and found them in Dothan.
They saw him a ways off,
and before he came near to them,
they conspired against him to kill him.
They said to one another,
“Behold, this dreamer comes.
Come now therefore,
and let us kill him,
and cast him into one of the pits,
and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’
We will see what will become of his dreams.”

Reuben heard it
and delivered him out of their hand,
and said, “Let us not take his life.”
Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood.
Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness,
but lay no hand on him”
—that he might deliver him out of their hand,
to restore him to his father.
When Joseph came to his brothers,
they stripped Joseph of his coat,
the coat of many colors that was on him;
and they took him, and threw him into the pit.
The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

They sat down to eat bread,
and they lifted up their eyes and looked,
and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites
was coming from Gilead,
with their camels bearing
spices and balm and myrrh,
going to carry it down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers,
“What profit is it
if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,
and not let our hand be on him;
for he is our brother, our flesh.”
His brothers listened to him.

They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites
for twenty pieces of silver.

Responsorial – Psalm 105.16-17, 18-19, 20-21 Resp. 5a

R. Remember his marvelous works, that the Lord has done.

The Lord called for a famine on the land.
He destroyed the food supplies.
He sent a man before them.
Joseph was sold for a slave.

R. Remember his marvelous works, that the Lord has done.

They bruised his feet with shackles.
His neck was locked in irons,
until the time that his word came to pass,
and the Lord’s word proved him true.

R. Remember his marvelous works, that the Lord has done.

The king sent and freed him;
even the ruler of peoples let him go free.
He made him lord of his house,
and ruler of all of his possessions;

R. Remember his marvelous works, that the Lord has done.

Gospel – Matthew 21.33-43, 45-46

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a human, a master of a household,
who planted a vineyard,
set a hedge about it,
dug a wine press in it,
built a tower,
leased it out to farmers,
and went into another country.
When the season for the fruit drew near,
he sent his servants to the farmers,
to receive his fruit.
The farmers took his servants,
beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Again, he sent other servants
more than the first:
and they treated them the same way.

Finally, he sent to them his son, saying,
‘They will respect my son.’
But the farmers, when they saw the son,
said among themselves, ‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.’
So they took him,
and threw him out of the vineyard,
and killed him.
When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes,
what will he do to those farmers?”

They told him,
“He will miserably destroy those miserables,
and will lease out the vineyard
to other farmers,
who will give him the fruit in its season.”
Jesus said to them,
“Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders rejected,
Has become the cornerstone.
This was done by the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes?’

“Therefore I tell you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you,
and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees
heard his parables,
they perceived that he spoke about them.
When they sought to seize him,
they feared the crowds,
because they held him to be a prophet.

Thursday of the Second Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Jeremiah 17.5-10

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the man who trusts in man,
and makes flesh his arm,
and whose heart departs from the Lord.
For he shall be like the heath in the desert,
and shall not see any good come,
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
a salt land and uninhabited.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
and whose trust is the Lord.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
that spreads out its roots by the river,
and shall not fear when heat comes,
but its leaf shall be green;
and shall not be worried in the year of drought,
and shall not cease from yielding fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and it is exceedingly corrupt:
who can know it?
I, the Lord, search the mind,
I test the heart,
to give to every man
according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.

Responsorial – Psalm 1.1-2, 3, 4+6 Resp. 40.5a

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand on the sinners’ path,
nor sit in the scoffers’ seat,
but whose delight is in the Lord’s law.
On his law he meditates day and night.

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

He will be like a tree
planted by the streams of water,
that produces its fruit in its season,
whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does shall prosper.

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

The wicked are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
For the Lord watches the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall perish.

R. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

Gospel – Luke 16.19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“Now there was a certain rich man,
clothed in purple and fine linen,
living in luxury every day.
A certain beggar, named Lazarus,
lay at his gate, full of sores,
desiring to be fed with the crumbs
that fell from the rich man’s table.
Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The beggar died,
and he was carried away by the angels
to Abraham’s bosom.
The rich man also died, and was buried.
In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,
and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his bosom.
He cried and said,
‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus,
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water,
and cool my tongue!
For I am in anguish in this flame.’
“But Abraham said, ‘Child,
remember that you, in your lifetime,
received your good things,
and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things.
But now here he is comforted
and you are in anguish.
Besides all this, between us and you
there is a great gulf fixed,
that those who want to pass
from here to you are not able,
and that no one may cross over from there to us.’

“He said, ‘Then I beg you, father,
to send him to my father’s house;
for I have five brothers,
that he may testify to them,
so they will not also come into this place of torment.’
“But Abraham said to him,
‘They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.’
“He said, ‘No, father Abraham,
but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen
to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if one rises from the dead.’”

Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Jeremiah 18.18-20

Then the people of Judah
and citizens of Jerusalem said,
“Come, and let us devise a plot against Jeremiah,
for the law shall not perish from the priest,
nor counsel from the wise,
nor the word from the prophet.
Come, and let us strike him with the tongue,
and let us not give heed
to any of his words.”

Give heed to me, O Lord,
and listen to the voice of those
who contend with me.
Shall evil be recompensed for good?
For they have dug a pit for my soul.
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.

Responsorial – Psalm 31.5-6, 14, 15-16 Resp. 17b

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,
for you are my stronghold.
Into your hand I commend my spirit.
You redeem me, O Lord, God of truth.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side;
while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

But I trust in you, O Lord.
I said, “You are my God.”
My fate is in your hand: deliver me
from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your loving kindness.

Gospel – Matthew 20.17-28

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the twelve disciples aside,
and on the way he said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Human will be delivered
to the chief priests and scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and will hand him over to the Gentiles
to mock, to scourge, and to crucify;
and on the third day he will be raised up.”

Then the mother
of the sons of Zebedee
came to him with her sons,
kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons,
may sit, one on your right hand,
and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
But Jesus answered, “You do not know
what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the chalice
that I am about to drink?”
They said to him, “We are able.”
He said to them,
“You will indeed drink my chalice,
but to sit on my right hand
and on my left hand
is not mine to give;
but it is for those for whom
it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it,
they were indignant with the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them, and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones
exercise authority over them.
It shall not be so among you,
but whoever desires
to become great among you shall be your servant.
Whoever desires to be first among you
shall be your slave,
even as the Son of Human came not to be served,
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Isaiah 1.10, 16-20

Hear the word of the Lord,
rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the law of our God,
people of Gomorrah!

Wash yourselves,
make yourself clean.
Put away the evil of your doings
from before my eyes.
Cease to do evil.
Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Relieve the oppressed.
Judge the fatherless.
Plead for the widow.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
says the Lord,
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow.
Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.”

If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured with the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it!

Responsorial – Psalm 50.8-9, 16bc-17, 21+23 Resp. 23b

R. I will show God’s salvation to the just.

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices.
Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I have no need for a bull from your stall,
nor male goats from your pens.

R. I will show God’s salvation to the just.

“What right do you have to declare my statutes,
and to have my covenant on your lips,
since you hate instruction,
and throw my words behind you?

R. I will show God’s salvation to the just.

You have done these things, and I kept silent,
so you thought that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you, and accuse you before your own eyes.
Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and to him who rightly goes his way, I will show God’s salvation .”

R. I will show God’s salvation to the just.

Gospel – Matthew 23.1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, saying:
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have sat in the chair of Moses.
Therefore, observe and do all things whatsoever they say to you,
but do not act according to their works.
For they speak and do not act.
For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens
and lay them on the shoulders of humans:
but they do not wish to move them with their own finger.
They do all their works for the attention of humans.
For they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes.
And they love the first places at feasts and the first chairs in the synagogues,
and salutations in the marketplace, and to be called by humans, ‘Rabbi’.
But as for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’.
For one is your teacher, and you are all brothers.
And do not call your father upon the earth,
For one is your Heavenly Father.
And do not be called masters: for your master is one: the Christ.
But the greatest of you, will be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Monday of the Second Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Daniel 9.4b-10

O Lord, great and awesome God,
who keep your covenant and loving kindness
toward those who love you
and keep your commandments:
We have sinned,
and have dealt perversely,
and have done wickedly,
and have rebelled,
even turning aside
from your precepts and from your ordinances;
we have not listened
to your servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name
to our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
and to all the people of the land.

Lord, righteousness belongs to you,
but to us confusion of face, as on this day;
we men of Judah,
and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, who are near,
and who are far off,
through all the countries
where you have driven them,
because of their trespass
that they have trespassed against you.

Lord, to us belongs confusion of face,
to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers,
because we have sinned against you.
To the Lord our God belong
mercies and forgiveness;
for we have rebelled against him,
and have not obeyed the voice
of the Lord our God,
to walk in your laws,
which you set before us
by you servants the prophets.

Responsorial – Psalm 79.8, 9, 11+13 R. 103:10a

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Do not hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us.
Let your tender mercies speedily meet us,
for we are in desperate need.

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Help us, God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name.
Deliver us, and forgive our sins,
for your name’s sake.

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you.
According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.
So we, your people and sheep of your pasture,
will give you thanks forever.
We will praise you forever, to all generations.

R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.


Gospel – Luke 6.36-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful,
even as your Father is also merciful.
Do not judge,
and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn,
and you will not be condemned.
Release, and you will be released.
Give, and it will be given to you:
good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, and running over,
will be given to you.
For with the same measure you measure,
will it be measured back to you.”

Second Sunday of Lent (C)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Genesis 15.5-12, 17-18

The Lord brought Abram outside, and said,
“Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”
He said to Abram, “So shall your descendents be.”
He believed the Lord, and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.

He said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees,
to give you this land to inherit it."
He said, "Lord God, how will I know that I will inherit it?"
He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old,
a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle,
and laid each half opposite the other, but he did not divide the birds.
Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram,
and terror and great darkness fell on him.

It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,
behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
"To your seed I have given this land,
from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates."

Responsorial – Psalm 27.1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14

R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice.
Have mercy on me, and answer me.
My heart said to you, “I will seek your face, O Lord.”

R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.

Your face, O Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me.
Do not put your servant away in anger.
You have been my help. Do not abandon me.

R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.

I believe that I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD; be of good courage.
He will strengthen your heart. Wait for the LORD.

R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.

Reading 2 – Philippians 3.17-4.1

Brothers and sisters, be imitators together of me,
and note those who walk this way,
even as you have us for an example.
For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping,
as enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame,
who think about earthly things.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await a Savior: the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will change our lowly body to be conformed to his glorified Body,
according to the power by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown,
stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

Gospel – Luke 9.28b-36

Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling.
Behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory,
and spoke of his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake,
they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.
As they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here.
Let us make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he said.
While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them,
and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”
When the voice came, Jesus was found alone.

They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

Saturday of the First Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Deuteronomy 26.16-19

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
“This day the Lord your God
commands you to do
these statutes and ordinances.
You shall therefore keep and do them
with all your heart and with all your soul.
You have declared this day
that the Lord is your God,
and that you would walk in his ways,
and keep his statutes,
and his commandments,
and his ordinances,
and listen to his voice.
The Lord has declared this day
that you are a people peculiarly his own,
as he has promised you,
and that you should keep
all his commandments.
He will make you high
above all nations that he has made,
in praise, in name, and in honor;
and that you may be
a holy people to the Lord your God,
as he has spoken.”

Responsorial – Psalm 119.1-2, 4-5, 7-8 Resp. 1b

R. Blessed are those who walk according to the Lord’s law.

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the Lord’s law.
Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
who seek him with their whole heart.

R. Blessed are those who walk according to the Lord’s law.

You have commanded your precepts,
that we should fully obey them.
O that my ways were steadfast
to obey your statutes!

R. Blessed are those who walk according to the Lord’s law.

I will give thanks to you with uprightness of heart,
when I learn your righteous judgments.
I will observe your statutes.
Do not utterly forsake me.

R. Blessed are those who walk according to the Lord’s law.

Gospel - Matthew 5.43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
‘You shall love your neighbor,
and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies,
bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who
mistreat you and persecute you,
that you may be children
of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his sun
to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what reward do you have?
Do not even the tax collectors
do the same?
If you only greet your brothers and sisters,
what more do you do than others?
Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?
Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle

Official Translation

Reading 1 – 1 Peter 5.1-4

Beloved:
Therefore I exhort the presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter,
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
who will also share in the glory that will be revealed:
shepherd the flock of God which is among you,
exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily,
not for dishonest gain, but willingly;
nor as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Responsorial – Psalm 23.1-3a, 4, 5, 6 Resp. 1

R. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He has me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff –
they comfort me.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

You prepare a table before me,
in the presence of my foes.
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Gospel – Matthew 16.13-19

When Jesus came into
the region of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying,
“Who do humans say that the Son of Human is?”
They said, “Some say John the Baptist,
some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah,
or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,
for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my Father who is in heaven.
I also tell you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the underworld will not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth
will have been bound in heaven;
and whatever you release on earth
will be released in heaven.”

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Official Translation

The first reading today from Esther is very strange. I have consulted the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and many translations, but cannot see how they ended up with the reading. Not even the NAB, the basis of the lectionary, has anything like it. So I collected a first reading from Esther that while a prayer by Esther is significantly different.

Reading 1 - Esther C.12, 14-16, 23-25 (14.1-2abd,3-5abc,13-14, 19)

Queen Esther was in fear of death
and resorted to the Lord.

She took off her splendid garments
and put on the clothing of weeping and mourning
and she utterly humbled her body
And she prayed to the Lord God of Israel, saying,
“O Lord, my only King.
Help me, who am alone, and have no helper but you.
for my danger is in my own hands.
Since birth, I have heard in the tribe of my family
that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations.

Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion
and turn his heart to hate the man who fights against us,
so that he and those who agree with him may be finished.
Save us by your hand, and help me, who am alone
and heave no helper but you, O Lord.

O God almighty,
hear the voice of the despairing,
and save us from the hands of evildoers,
and save me from my fear.

Responsorial – Psalm 138.1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 Resp. 3a

R. Lord, on the day that I called, you answered me.

I will give you thanks with my whole heart.
for you have heard the words of my mouth
before the gods I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your Name.

R. Lord, on the day that I called, you answered me.

Because of your loving kindness and your truth,
for you have exalted above all
your Name and your Word.
In the day that I called, you answered me.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul.

R. Lord, on the day that I called, you answered me.

Your right hand will save me.
The Lord will fulfill that which concerns me;
your loving kindness, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the works of your own hands.

R. Lord, on the day that I called, you answered me.

Gospel – Matthew 7.7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask, and it will be given to you.
Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and it will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives.
They who seek, find.
To the one who knocks, it will be opened.

Who is there among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
If you then, being perverse, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Therefore whatever you desire for humans to do to you, you shall also do to them;
for this is the law and the prophets.”

Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Jonah 3.1-10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah again, saying,
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,
and preach to it the message that I give you.”
So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh,
according to the Lord’s word.

Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,
three days’ journey across.
Jonah began to enter into the city
one day’s journey,
and he cried out, and said,
“In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
The people of Nineveh believed God;
and they proclaimed a fast,
and put on sackcloth,
from their greatest even to their least.

The news reached the king of Nineveh,
and he arose from his throne,
and took off his royal robe,
covered himself with sackcloth,
and sat in ashes.
He made a proclamation
and published through Nineveh
by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
“Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock,
taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
but let them be covered with sackcloth,
both man and animal,
and let them cry mightily to God.
Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way,
and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows whether God will not turn and relent,
and turn away from his fierce anger,
so that we might not perish?”

God saw their works,
that they turned from their evil way.
God relented of the disaster
which he said he would do to them,
and he did not do it.

Responsorial – Psalm 51.3-4, 12-13, 18-19 Resp. 19b

R. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin.

R. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me out from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

R. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

For you do not delight in sacrifice.
I would give a burnt offering, but you have no pleasure in it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

R. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Gospel - Luke 11.29-32

While the crowds were gathering together to Jesus, he began to say,
“This kind is a perverse kind.
It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Human be to this kind.
At the judgment, the queen of the south will rise up with the men of this kind,
and will condemn them:
for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this kind, and will condemn it:
for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Isaiah 55.10-11

Thus says the LORD:
For as the rain and the snow
come down from the heavens,
and do not return there,
until they water the earth,
and makes it grow and bud,
giving seed to the sower
and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be
that goes out of my mouth:
it shall not return to me void,
but it shall accomplish my will,
and it shall prosper
in what I sent it to do.

Responsorial – Psalm 34.4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19 Resp. 18b

R. The Lord delivered the just out of all their troubles.

Oh magnify the Lord with me.
Let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.

R. The Lord delivered the just out of all their troubles.

They looked to him, and were radiant.
Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.

R. The Lord delivered the just out of all their troubles.

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. The Lord delivered the just out of all their troubles.

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. The Lord delivered the just out of all their troubles.

Gospel – Matthew 6.7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
In praying, do not pile up words,
as the Gentiles do;
for they think that
in their many words
they will be heard.
So do not be like them,
for your Father knows
what things you need
before you ask him.

Pray like this:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive those who owe debts to us.
lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive humans their missteps,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive humans their missteps,
neither will your Father forgive your missteps.

Monday of the First Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Leviticus 19.1-2, 11-18

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to all the congregation
of the children of Israel, and tell them,
‘You shall be holy;
for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

“You shall not steal.
You shall not lie.
You shall not deceive one another.
You shall not swear by my name falsely,
and profane the name of your God.
I am the Lord.”

“You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him.
The wages of a hired servant
shall not remain with you
all night until the morning.
You shall not curse the deaf,
nor put a stumbling block
in front of the blind;
but you shall fear your God.
I am the Lord.”

“You shall do no injustice in judging.
You shall not be partial to the poor,
nor show favoritism to the great;
but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
You shall not go up and down
as a slanderer among your people.
You shall not stand by
while the blood of your neighbor is threatened.
I am the Lord.”

“You shall not hate your brother
in your heart.
You shall surely rebuke your neighbor,
and not bear sin because of him.
You shall not take vengeance,
nor bear any grudge
against the children of your people;
but you shall love
your neighbor as yourself.
I am the Lord.”

Responsorial – Psalm 19.8, 9, 10, 15 Resp. John 6:63b

R. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring the soul.
The covenant of the Lord is sure,
making the simple wise.

R. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.

R. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.

R. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.

R. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

Gospel – Matthew 25.31-46

Jesus said to his disciples,
“When the Son of human comes in his glory,
and all the holy angels with him,
then he will sit upon the throne of his glory.
Before him shall be gathered all the Gentiles,
and he will separate them, one from another,
as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats.
He will make the sheep stand at his right hand
and the goats at his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right hand,
‘Come, blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.
For I was an hungry, and you gave me to eat.
I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink.
I was a stranger and you brought me in.
I was naked, and you clothed me.
I was sick, and you visited me.
I was in prison, and you came to me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, saying,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?
Or thirsty, and gave you drink?
When did we see you a stranger, and brought you in?
Or naked, and clothed thee?
When did we see you sick, or in prison, and came to you?’

And the King shall answer and say to them,
‘Amen, I say unto you,
inasmuch as you have done it
for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you have done it for me.’

Then he will say also to those at his left hand,
‘Depart from me, you cursed,
into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was an hungry, and you did not give me to eat.
I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink.
I was a stranger and you did not bring me in.
I was naked, and you did not clothe me.
I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

Then they will also answer him, saying,
‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
and did not minister to you?’
Then he will answer them, saying,
‘Amen, I say unto you,
inasmuch as you did it not
for one of the least of these,
you did not do it for me.’

And they will go away to everlasting punishment,
but the righteous to life eternal.”