Readings

Proper readings

First Reading
1 Jn 4:7-16

If we love one another, God will live in us.

A reading from the first Letter of Saint John

Beloved, let us love one another,
   because love is of God;
   everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
   God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
   so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
   not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
   and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
   we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
   and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
   that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
   that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
   God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever
   remains in love remains in God and God in him.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

R. :

℟. (12) Lord, teach me your statutes.

How shall a young man be faultless in his way?
   By keeping to your words.

℟. Lord, teach me your statutes.

With all my heart I seek you;
   let me not stray from your commands.

℟. Lord, teach me your statutes.

Within my heart I treasure your promise,
   that I may not sin against you.

℟. Lord, teach me your statutes.

Blessed are you, O LORD;
   teach me your statutes.

℟. Lord, teach me your statutes.

With my lips I declare
   all the ordinances of your mouth.

℟. Lord, teach me your statutes.

In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
   as much as in all riches.

℟. Lord, teach me your statutes.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Mt 23:9b, 10b

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

You have but one Father, in heaven;
you have but one master, the Christ.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mt 23:8-12

Do not be called “'Master”; you have one master, the Christ.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus spoke to his disciples:
“Do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
   you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’:
   you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
   but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Then he kisses the book, saying quietly:

Through the words of the Gospel
may our sins be wiped away.

Weekday readings

First Reading
1 Thes 3:7-13

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians

We have been reassured about you, brothers and sisters,
   in our every distress and affliction, through your faith.
For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you,
   for all the joy we feel on your account before our God?
Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person
   and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith.
Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus
   direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase
   and abound in love for one another and for all,
   just as we have for you,
   so as to strengthen your hearts,
   to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father
   at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
90:3-5a, 12-13, 14 and 17

R. :

℟. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

You turn man back to dust,
   saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
   are as yesterday, now that it is past,
   or as a watch of the night.

℟. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Teach us to number our days aright,
   that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
   Have pity on your servants!

℟. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
   that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
   prosper the work of our hands for us!
   Prosper the work of our hands!

℟. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Acclamation before the Gospel
Mt 24:42

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mt 24:42-51

Stay awake!

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
   had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
   he would have stayed awake
   and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
   for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
   whom the master has put in charge of his household
   to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
   and begins to beat his fellow servants,
   and eat and drink with drunkards,
   the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
   and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
   and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
   where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Then he kisses the book, saying quietly:

Through the words of the Gospel
may our sins be wiped away.