Daily Readings

Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers and sisters,especially for strangers;they have testified to your love before the Church.Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey.For they have set out for the sake of the Nameand are accepting nothing from the pagans.Therefore, we ought to support such persons,so that we may be co-workers in the truth.

R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.Blessed the man who fears the LORD,who greatly delights in his commands.His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;the upright generation shall be blessed.R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.Wealth and riches shall be in his house;his generosity shall endure forever.Light shines through the darkness for the upright;he is gracious and merciful and just.R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.Well for the man who is gracious and lends,who conducts his affairs with justice;He shall never be moved;the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.God has called us through the Gospel,to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus told his disciples a parableabout the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain townwho neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering meI shall deliver a just decision for herlest she finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen oneswho call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

[Chosen Lady:]I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truthjust as we were commanded by the Father.But now, Lady, I ask you,not as though I were writing a new commandmentbut the one we have had from the beginning:let us love one another.For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,in which you should walk.

Many deceivers have gone out into the world,those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked forbut may receive a full recompense.Anyone who is so “progressive”as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!Blessed are they whose way is blameless,who walk in the law of the LORD.R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!Blessed are they who observe his decrees,who seek him with all their heart.R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! With all my heart I seek you;let me not stray from your commands.R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!Within my heart I treasure your promise,that I may not sin against you.R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!Be good to your servant, that I may liveand keep your words.R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!Open my eyes, that I may considerthe wonders of your law.R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Stand erect and raise your headsbecause your redemption is at hand.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:“As it was in the days of Noah,so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;they were eating and drinking,marrying and giving in marriage up to the daythat Noah entered the ark,and the flood came and destroyed them all.Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:they were eating, drinking, buying,selling, planting, building;on the day when Lot left Sodom,fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.On that day, someone who is on the housetopand whose belongings are in the housemust not go down to get them,and likewise one in the fieldmust not return to what was left behind.Remember the wife of Lot.Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,but whoever loses it will save it.I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;one will be taken, the other left.And there will be two women grinding meal together;one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”He said to them, “Where the body is,there also the vultures will gather.”

Beloved:I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,because the hearts of the holy oneshave been refreshed by you, brother.Therefore, although I have the full right in Christto order you to do what is proper,I rather urge you out of love,being as I am, Paul, an old man,and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,whose father I have become in my imprisonment,who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.I should have liked to retain him for myself,so that he might serve me on your behalfin my imprisonment for the Gospel,but I did not want to do anything without your consent,so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,that you might have him back forever,no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother,beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,as a man and in the Lord.So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.And if he has done you any injusticeor owes you anything, charge it to me.I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay.May I not tell you that you owe me your very self.Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord.Refresh my heart in Christ.

R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.or:R. Alleluia.The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,gives food to the hungry.The LORD sets captives free.R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.or:R. Alleluia.The LORD gives sight to the blind.The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;the LORD loves the just.The LORD protects strangers.R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.or:R. Alleluia.The fatherless and the widow he sustains,but the way of the wicked he thwarts.The LORD shall reign forever;your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.or:R. Alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord:whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,Jesus said in reply,“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Then he said to his disciples,“The days will come when you will long to seeone of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.There will be those who will say to you,‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.For just as lightning flashesand lights up the sky from one side to the other,so will the Son of Man be in his day.But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”