Readings for Tuesday 11th Week in Ordinary Time

Year 1

First Reading
1 Kgs 21:1-16

Naboth has been stoned to death.

A reading from the first Book of Kings

Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel
   next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
   since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
   if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
   that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer
   Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him:
   “I will not give you my ancestral heritage.”
Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.
 
His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
   “Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”
He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite
   and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or,
   if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’
But he refused to let me have his vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him,
   “A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”
 
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and,
   having sealed them with his seal,
   sent them to the elders and to the nobles
   who lived in the same city with Naboth.
This is what she wrote in the letters:
   “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Next, get two scoundrels to face him
   and accuse him of having cursed God and king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.”
His fellow citizens—the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city—
   did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing,
   through the letters she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation,
   “Naboth has cursed God and king.”
And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
   that Naboth had been stoned to death.
 
When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death,
   she said to Ahab,
   “Go on, take possession of the vineyard
   of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
   because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
   down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
   to take possession of it.


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 5:2-3ab, 4b-6a, 6b-7

R. :

℟. (2b) Lord, listen to my groaning.

Hearken to my words, O LORD,
   attend to my sighing.
Heed my call for help,
   my king and my God!

℟. Lord, listen to my groaning.

At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
   For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
   the arrogant may not stand in your sight.

℟. Lord, listen to my groaning.

You hate all evildoers.
   You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
   the LORD abhors.

℟. Lord, listen to my groaning.

Year 2

First Reading
2 Cor 8:1-9

Christ became poor for your sake.

A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God
   that has been given to the churches of Macedonia,
   for in a severe test of affliction,
   the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty
   overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
For according to their means, I can testify,
   and beyond their means, spontaneously,
   they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part
   in the service to the holy ones,
   and this, not as we expected,
   but they gave themselves first to the Lord
   and to us through the will of God,
   so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun,
   he should also complete for you this gracious act also.
Now as you excel in every respect,
   in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness,
   and in the love we have for you,
   may you excel in this gracious act also.

I say this not by way of command,
   but to test the genuineness of your love
   by your concern for others.
For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
   that for your sake he became poor although he was rich,
   so that by his poverty you might become rich.


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 146:2, 5-6ab, 6c- 7, 8-9a

R. :

R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
  or:
R. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD, my soul!
   I will praise the LORD all my life;
   I will sing praise to my God while I live.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
  or:
R. Alleluia.

Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
   whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
   the sea and all that is in them.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
  or:
R. Alleluia.

Who keeps faith forever,
   secures justice for the oppressed,
   gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
  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. Praise the Lord, my soul!
  or:
R. Alleluia.


Gospel Acclamation
Jn 13:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I give you a new commandment
love one another as I have loved you.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel
Mt 5:38-42

Love your enemies.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
   You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
   and pray for those who persecute you,
   that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
   for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
   and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
   what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

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.


Homilies / Gospel Reflections



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