26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Date: September 28, 2014

First Reading (Ezekiel 18: 25–28)
A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
You state: The Lord's way is not just! Why, Israel! Is my position wrong? Is it not rather that yours is wrong? If the righteous man dies after turning from his righteous deeds and sinning, he dies because of his sins. And if the wicked man does what is good and right, after turning from the sins he committed, he will save his life. He will live and not die, because he has opened his eyes and turned from the sins he had committed.

Second Reading (Philippians 2: 1–11)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians.
Brothers and sisters: If I may advise you in the name of Christ and if you can hear it as the voice of love; if we share the same spirit and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg of you make me very happy: have one love, one spirit, one feeling, do nothing through rivalry or vain conceit. On the contrary let each of you gently consider the others as more important than yourselves. Do not seek your own interest, but rather that of others. Let what was seen in Christ Jesus be seen in you: Though being divine in nature, he did not claim in fact equality with God, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in his appearance found as a man. He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel (Matthew 21: 28–32)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus stated this in front of the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the Jewish authorities, "What do you think of this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and stated to him: 'Son, today go and work in my vineyard.' And the son answered: 'I do not want to.' But later he thought better of it and went. Then the father went to the second and gave him the same command. This son replied: 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did what the father wanted? They answered, "The first." And Jesus stated to them, "Truly, I say to you: the publicans and the prostitutes are ahead of you on the way to the kingdom of heaven. For John came to show you the way of goodness but you did not believe him, yet the publicans and the prostitutes did. You were witnesses of this, but you neither repented nor believed him."

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Date: September 21, 2014 

First Reading (Isaiah 55: 6–9)
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. Let the wicked abandon his way, let him forsake his thoughts, let him turn to the Lord for he will have mercy, for our God is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Second Reading (Philippians 1: 20c–24, and 27)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians.
Brothers and sisters: Christ will be exalted through my person, whether I love or die. For to me, to live is Christ, and even death is profitable for me. But if I am to go on living, I shall be able to enjoy fruitful labor. Which shall I choose? So I feel torn between the two. I desire greatly to leave this life and to be with Christ, which will be better by far, but it is necessary for you that I remain in his life. Try, then, to adjust your lives according to the Gospel of Christ. May I see it when I come to you, and if I cannot come, may I at least hear that you stand firm in the same spirit, striving to uphold the faith of the Gospel with one heart.

Gospel (Matthew: 20: 1–16)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus stated this to his disciples: "This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A landowner went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the workers a salary of a silver coin for the day, and sent them to his vineyard. He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the square, he stated to them: 'You, too, go to my vineyard and I will pay you what is just.' So they went. The owner went out at midday and again at three in the afternoon, and he did the same. Finally he went out at the last working hour — it was the eleventh — and he saw others standing there. So he stated to them: 'Why do you stay idle the whole day?' They answered: 'Because no one has hired us.' The master stated: 'Go and work in my vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard stated to his manager: 'Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' Those who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up and were given a denarius each (a silver coin). When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, received a denarius each. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner. They stated: 'These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us who have endured the day's burden and heat.' The owner stated to one of them: 'Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on a denarius a day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I gave to you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with my money? Why are you envious when I am kind?' So will it be: the last will be first, the first will be last." 

Feast of the Holy Cross

Date: September 14, 2014

First Reading (Numbers 21: 4–9)
A reading from the book of Numbers.
From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna." The Lord then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and stated, "We have sinned, speaking against the Lord and against you. Plead with the Lord to take the serpents away." Moses pleaded for the people and the Lord stated to him, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live." So Moses made bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.

Second Reading (Philippians 2: 6–11)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians.
Though being divine in nature, he did not claim in fact equality with God, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and his appearance found as a man. He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel (John 3: 13–17)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
Jesus stated this to Nicodemus, "No one has ever gone up to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Date: September 7, 2014 

First Reading (Ezekiel 33: 7–9)
A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
Therefore, the Lord states: "For your part, son of man, I have set you as a watchman for Israel, and when you hear my word, you must give them my warning. When I say to the wicked: 'Wicked man, you shall die for sure,' if you do not warn the wicked man to turn him from his ways, he will die because of his sin, but I will also call you to account for his blood. If you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you yourself will be saved."

Second Reading (Romans 13: 8–10)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans.
Brothers and sisters: Do not be in debt to anyone. Let this be the only debt of one to another: Love. The one who loves his or her neighbor fulfilled the Law. For the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not covet and whatever else are summarized in this one: You will love your neighbor as yourself. Love cannot do the neighbor any harm; so love fulfills the whole Law.

Gospel (Matthew 18: 15–20)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew. 
Jesus stated this to his disciples, "If your brother or sister has sinned against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are in private, and if he listens to you, you have won your brother. If you are not listen to, take with you one or two others so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he still refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard such a one as a pagan or a publican. I say to you: whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound. In like manner, I say to you: if on earth two of you are united in asking for anything, it will be granted to you by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered in my Name, I am there among them."