Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time (II)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – James 2.14-24, 26

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says they have faith but not works?
Faith cannot save them, can it?
And if a brother or sister is naked and lacks basic food,
and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, keep warm and well-fed”
and you do not give them the things the body needs,
what good is that?
Even so faith, if it has no works,is dead according to its own nature.

But someone will say that you have faith and I have works.
Show me your faith separate from works,
and I will show you, by my works, my faith.

You believe that God is one.
You do well.
The demons also believe and shudder.
But do you want to know, vain man,
that faith apart from works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
You see that faith worked with his works,
and by works faith was perfected;
and the Scripture was fulfilled which says,
“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”;
and he was called the friend of God.
You see then that by works, a human is justified, and not only by faith.

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,
even so faith apart from works is dead.

Responsorial – Psalm 112.1-2, 3-4, 5-6 R. 1b

R. Blessed is the man who delights greatly in the Lord’s commandments.

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who delights greatly in his commandments.
His seed will be mighty in the land.
The generation of the upright will be blessed.

R. Blessed is the human who delights greatly in the Lord’s commandments.

Wealth and riches are in his house.
His righteousness endures forever.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright,
gracious, merciful, and righteous.

R. Blessed is the human who delights greatly in the Lord’s commandments.

It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends.
He will maintain his cause in judgment.
For he will never be shaken.
The righteous will be remembered forever.

R. Blessed is the human who delights greatly in the Lord’s commandments.

Gospel – Mark 8.34-9:1

Jesus called the crowd to himself
with his disciples, and said to them,
“Whoever wants to come after me,
let them deny themself, and take up their cross, and follow me.
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it;
and whoever will lose their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel
will save it.

For what does it profit a human,
to gain the whole world, and forfeit their soul?
For what will a human give in exchange for their soul?
For whoever might be ashamed of me and of my words
among the kind who are adulterous and sinful,
the Son of Human also will be ashamed of them,
when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
He said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not even taste death
until they see the Kingdom of God having come with power.”