Daily Readings

Wrath and anger are hateful things,yet the sinner hugs them tight.The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,for he remembers their sins in detail.Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.Could anyone nourish anger against anotherand expect healing from the LORD?Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,can he seek pardon for his own sins?If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,who will forgive his sins?Remember your last days, set enmity aside;remember death and decay, and cease from sin!Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

R. (8) The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.Bless the LORD, O my soul;and all my being, bless his holy name.Bless the LORD, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits.R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.He pardons all your iniquities,heals all your ills.He redeems your life from destruction,crowns you with kindness and compassion.R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.He will not always chide,nor does he keep his wrath forever.Not according to our sins does he deal with us,nor does he requite us according to our crimes.R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.For as the heavens are high above the earth,so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.As far as the east is from the west,so far has he put our transgressions from us.R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

Brothers and sisters:None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.For if we live, we live for the Lord,and if we die, we die for the Lord;so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.For this is why Christ died and came to life,that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:love one another as I have loved you.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,“Lord, if my brother sins against me,how often must I forgive?As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a kingwho decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting,a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back,his master ordered him to be sold,along with his wife, his children, and all his property,in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’Moved with compassion the master of that servantlet him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servantswho owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,‘Pay back what you owe.’Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prisonuntil he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,they were deeply disturbed, and went to their masterand reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,as I had pity on you?’Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturersuntil he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you,unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

My beloved ones, avoid idolatry.I am speaking as to sensible people;judge for yourselves what I am saying.The cup of blessing that we bless,is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ?The bread that we break,is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?Because the loaf of bread is one,we, though many, are one Body,for we all partake of the one loaf.

Look at Israel according to the flesh;are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?So what am I saying?That meat sacrificed to idols is anything?Or that an idol is anything?No, I mean that what they sacrifice,they sacrifice to demons, not to God,and I do not want you to become participants with demons.You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons.You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger?Are we stronger than him?

R.        (17) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

How shall I make a return to the LORDfor all the good he has done for me?The cup of salvation I will take up,and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R.        To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,and I will call upon the name of the LORD.My vows to the LORD I will payin the presence of all his people.

R.        To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever loves me will keep my word,and my Father will love him,and we will come to him.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.For every tree is known by its own fruit.For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,nor do they gather grapes from brambles.A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,listens to my words, and acts on them.That one is like a man building a house,who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;when the flood came, the river burst against that housebut could not shake it because it had been well built.But the one who listens and does not actis like a person who built a house on the groundwithout a foundation.When the river burst against it,it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

Brothers and sisters:If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,for an obligation has been imposed on me,and woe to me if I do not preach it!If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.What then is my recompense?That, when I preach, I offer the Gospel free of chargeso as not to make full use of my right in the Gospel.

Although I am free in regard to all,I have made myself a slave to allso as to win over as many as possible.I have become all things to all, to save at least some.All this I do for the sake of the Gospel,so that I too may have a share in it.

Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race,but only one wins the prize?Run so as to win.Every athlete exercises discipline in every way.They do it to win a perishable crown,but we an imperishable one.Thus I do not run aimlessly;I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.No, I drive my body and train it,for fear that, after having preached to others,I myself should be disqualified.

R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD.My heart and my fleshcry out for the living God.R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!Even the sparrow finds a home,and the swallow a nestin which she puts her young—Your altars, O LORD of hosts,my king and my God!R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!Blessed they who dwell in your house!continually they praise you.Blessed the men whose strength you are!their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!For a sun and a shield is the LORD God;grace and glory he bestows;The LORD withholds no good thingfrom those who walk in sincerity. R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Your word, O Lord, is truth;consecrate us in the truth.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus told his disciples a parable:"Can a blind person guide a blind person?Will not both fall into a pit?No disciple is superior to the teacher;but when fully trained,every disciple will be like his teacher.Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?How can you say to your brother,'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,'when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?You hypocrite!  Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;then you will see clearlyto remove the splinter in your brother's eye."