FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 27:1-29
Isaac Blesses Jacob
27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and
said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day
of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt
game for me, 4 and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that I may
bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for
game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7
‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat it, and bless you before the LORD before I
die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. 9 Go to the flock, and fetch me two good
kids, that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves; 10 and you shall bring it to
your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,
“Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I
shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to
him, “Upon me be your curse, my son; only obey my word, and go, fetch them to me.” 14 So he went and
took them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. 15
Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put
them on Jacob her younger son; 16 and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth
part of his neck; 17 and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her
son Jacob.
18 So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19
Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first-born. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my
game, that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my
son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come
near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went
near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of
Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he
blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it to
me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought
him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he
came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,
“See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the LORD has
blessed!
28
May God give you of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
29
Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother's sons bow down to
you.
Cursed be every one who curses you,
and blessed be every one who blesses you!”

R ESPONSORY Gn 27:27, 22:17

The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed! May God multiply your
descendants as the sand on the seashore;
— and give you the dew of heaven.
May God bless you with abundance of grain and wine from the earth.
— And grant you the dew of heaven.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope
(Ad Cor 40-43: SC 167,167-171)
Let each of us abide in his own rank with dignity
Out of reverence for the deep wisdom of God, we should discharge in an orderly way the duties which
the Master has instructed us to carry out at regular times. For it is he who has commanded that the
sacrifices and other rites should be celebrated, and this not at random or in a haphazard manner but on
specific occasions and at fixed hours. By his sublime will he has determined where and by whom these
sacred rites are to be conducted, so that all of them may be devoutly performed in accordance with his good
pleasure and thus be acceptable to him. Those who present their offerings at the times enjoined find favor
with him and are blessed, for by conforming to the usages the Master has established they do not go astray.
Moreover, upon the high priest special functions devolve, to the priest their proper place is assigned and on
the levites particular services are imposed. The lay person, however, is subject to the rules appropriate to
the laity.
Let each of us, my sisters and brothers, try to be pleasing to God through a good conscience, by
abiding in his own rank with dignity and not deviating from the rule laid down for his worship. Among the
Jews it is not everywhere that the perpetual sacrifices are presented, or the votive offerings, or the sacrifices
for sin or inadvertent offenses; it is only in Jerusalem, and even there not indiscriminately in any place.
Only on the altar before the inner sanctuary is the victim offered, after scrutiny by the high priest and the
aforesaid ministers. Those who in any way infringe the custom willed by God incur the death penalty. So
you see, my brothers and sisters: the nobler the knowledge of which we have deemed worthy, the greater
the danger to which we are exposed.
The apostles received the good news on our behalf from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was sent
from God. So Christ is from God and the apostles from Christ; both missions were effected in due order
and in accordance with God’s will. Instructed, fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ and confident in God’s word through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the apostle went out to
preach the good news of the coming kingdom of God. They proclaimed it in countryside and cities, and
among the firstfruits of their converts they tested the spirits of some and ordained these men bishops and
deacons for those who would come to believe. And this was no innovation, for overseers and deacons had
been mentioned in scripture long since; there is a text which says: I will appoint their overseers in
righteousness and their deacons in faithfulness (Is 60:17).
Is there anything remarkable about the fact that the apostles, who in Christ had been entrusted with this
work from God, should have ordained these men? No indeed: the blessed Moses, faithful servant in God’s
whole house (Nb 12:7), noted down in the sacred books all that was committed to him, and the rest of the
prophets followed him in this, jointly attesting to the legal provisions made by Moses. Now when jealousy
had been stirred up about the priesthood and there was sedition among the tribes as to which of them should
be adorned with the priestly prerogative of the glorious name, Moses ordered the twelve tribe leaders to
bring him twelve rods, with the name of one tribe inscribed on each. He took them, tied into a bundle,
sealed them with the signet rings of the chiefs and put them into the tent of the testimony on God’s table.
Closing the tent he sealed its fastenings in the same way as the rods. Then he said to them, “The tribe
whose rod shall bud is the one God has chosen to exercise the priestly office and offer him worship.” Next
morning he assembled all Israel, some six hundred thousand men, and offered the seals to the tribal leaders
for inspection; he then opened the tent of the testimony and brought out the rods. And it was found that
Aaron’s rod had not merely budded but even borne fruit.
What do you think of that, beloved? Did Moses not know before hand that such would be the case? He
certainly did! By he acted in this way so that anarchy should not prevail in Israel, and that the name of the
true and only God should be honored. To God be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

R ESPONSORY Jeremiah 6:16; Proverbs 22:28

Stand beside the earliest roads,
—ask the pathways of old which is the way to good, and walk it
Remove not the ancient landmark which your fathers set up.
—ask the pathways of old which is the way to good, and walk it
 MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 27:30-45
Esau’s Lost Blessing
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of
Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared savory food, and brought it
to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless
me.” 32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your first-born, Esau.”
33
Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I
ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the
words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me,
even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came with guile, and he has taken away your
blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took
away my birthright; and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not
reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his
brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do
for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me
also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39 Then Isaac his father answered him:
“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth
shall your dwelling be,
and away from the dew of heaven on high.
40
By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you break loose
you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Jacob Escapes Esau’s Fury
41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to
himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the
words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said
to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son,
obey my voice; arise, flee to La'ban my brother in Haran, 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s
fury turns away; 45 until your brother’s anger turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I
will send, and fetch you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

R ESPONSORY Ws 10:10
When a righteous man fled from his brother’s wrath, wisdom guided him on straight paths.
— She showed him the kingdom of God.
She gave him knowledge of holy things; she prospered his labors.
— She showed him the kingdom of God.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 44-45)
The just undergo persecution
Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be strife on account of the
office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect foreknowledge
of this, they appointed those ministers already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these
should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. We are of opinion, therefore,
that those appointed by them, or afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole Church,
and who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and
have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry. For
our sin will not be small, if we eject from the episcopate those who have blamelessly and holily fulfilled its
duties. Blessed are those presbyters who, having finished their course before now, have obtained a fruitful
and perfect departure from this world; for they have no fear lest any one deprive them of the place now
appointed them. But we see that you have removed some men of excellent behavior from the ministry,
which they fulfilled blamelessly and with honor.
You are fond of contention, brethren, and full of zeal about things which do not pertain to salvation.
Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit. Observe that nothing of
an unjust or counterfeit character is written in them. There you will not find that the righteous were cast off
by men who themselves were holy. The righteous were indeed persecuted, but only by the wicked. They
were cast into prison, but only by the unholy; they were stoned, but only by transgressors; they were slain,
but only by the accursed, and such as had conceived an unrighteous envy against them. Exposed to such
sufferings, they endured them gloriously. For what shall we say, brethren? Was Daniel cast into the den of
lions by such as feared God? Were Ananiah, and Azariah, and Mishael shut up in a furnace of fire by those
who observed the great and glorious worship of the Most High? Far from us be such a thought! Who, then,
were they that did such things? The hateful, and those full of all wickedness, were roused to such a pitch of
fury, that they inflicted torture on those who served God with a holy and blameless purpose of heart, not
knowing that the Most High is the defender and protector of all such as with a pure conscience venerate His
all-excellent name; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
But they who with confidence endured these things are now heirs of glory and honor, and have been
exalted and made illustrious by God in their memorial for ever and ever. Amen.

R ESPONSORY See Psalm 132:1

Because of faithfulness to the covenant of the Lord and to the laws of the fathers, the saints persevere in
fraternal love,
— since there was always only one Spirit and only one faith in them.
Look how good and how sweet it is for brothers to live together!
— since there was always only one Spirit and only one faith in them.

TUESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 28:10—29:14
Jacob’s ladder
10 Jacob left Be'er-she'ba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that
night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down
in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached
to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the lord
stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on
which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; 14 and your descendants shall be like the dust of
the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by
you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. 15 Behold, I am with you and
will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have
done that of which I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD
is in this place; and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is
none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up
for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the
city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in
this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s
house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be
God’s house; and of all that you give me I will give the tenth to you.”
29 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a
well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it; for out of that well the flocks were
watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the
shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the sheep, and put the stone back in
its place upon the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said
to them, “Do you know La'ban the son of Na'hor?” They said, “We know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it
well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7 He said,
“Behold, it is still high day, it is not time for the animals to be gathered together; water the sheep, and go,
pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled
from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them. 10 Now
when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of La'ban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's
brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his
mother's brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her
father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.
13 When La'ban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and
kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and La'ban said to him,
“Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

R ESPONSORY Gn 28:12,17; Jn 1:51

Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on earth that reached to heaven; behold, the angels of God
were ascending and descending on it!
— This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven.
Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man.
— This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope
(Nn. 46, 2—47; 48,106: Funk 1, 119-123)
Seek the good of all, not personal advantage
The command has been written: cling to the saints, for those who cling to them will be sanctified.
There is a passage in Scripture as well which states: With the innocent man you will be innocent, and with
the chosen you will be chosen also; likewise with the perverse you will deal perversely (cf. Ps 17:26).
Devote yourselves then, to the innocent and the just; they are God’s chosen ones. Why are there strife and
passion, schisms and even war among you? Do we not posses the same Spirit of grace which was given to
us and the same calling in Christ? Why do we tear apart and divide the body of Christ? Why do we revolt
against our own body? Why do we reach such a degree of insanity that we forget that we are members of
one another? Do not forget the words of Jesus our Lord: Woe to that man; it would be better for him if he
had not been born rather than scandalize one of my chosen ones. Indeed it would be better for him to have
a great millstone round his neck and to be drowned in the sea than that he lead astray one of my chosen
ones (cf. Lk 17:1-2). Your division has led many astray, has made many doubt, has made many despair,
and has brought grief upon us all. And still your rebellion continues.
Pick up the letter of blessed Paul the apostle. What did he write to you at the beginning of his ministry?
Even then you had developed factions. So Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote to you concerning
himself and Cephas and Apollos. But that division involved you in less sin because you were supporting
apostles of high reputation and a person approved by them.
We should put an end to this division immediately. Let us fall down before our master and implore his
mercy with our tears. Then he will be reconciled to us and restore us to the practice of brotherly love that
befits us. For this is the gate of justice that leads to life, as it is written: Open to me the gates of justice.
When I have entered there, I shall praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the just shall enter through it
(cf. Ps 117:19). There are many gates which stand open, but the gate of justice is the gateway of Christ. All
who enter through this gate are blessed, pursuing their way in holiness and justice, performing all their
tasks without discord. But the greater he seems to be, the more humbly he ought to act, and the more
zealous he should be for the common good rather than his own interest.

R ESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 9:19.22; Job 29:15-16

Though I am not bound to anyone, I became slave to all.
To the weak I became weak.
—I became all things to all men that I might at least save some.
I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame; I was a father to the poor.
—I became all things to all men that I might at least save some.
 WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 31:1-18
Jacob Flees with His Family and Flocks
31 “Now Jacob heard that the sons of La'ban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; and
from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw that La'ban did not regard him
with favor as before. 3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred,
and I will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, 5 and
said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my
father has been with me. 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength; 7 yet your father
has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The
spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your
wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9 Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them
to me. 10 In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which
leaped upon the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream,
‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that leap upon the
flock are striped, spotted, and mottled; for I have seen all that La'ban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of
Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land, and return to
the land of your birth.’ ” 14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to
us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been
using up the money given for us. 16 All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to
us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
17 So Jacob arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels; 18 and he drove away all his cattle, all his
livestock which he had gained, the cattle in his possession which he had acquired in Pad'dan-ar'am, to go to
the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

R ESPONSORY Gn 31:13; Is 49:26

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me.
— Now arise from this land ; return to the land of your birth.
All flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior.
— Now arise from this land; return to the land of your birth.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope
(Nn. 49-50: Funk 1, 123-125)
Who can express the binding power of divine love?
Let the man truly possessed by the love of Christ keep his commandments. Who can express the
binding power of divine love? Who can find words for the splendor of its beauty? Beyond all description
are the heights to which it lifts us. Love unites us to God; it cancels innumerable sins (1 Pt 4:8), has no
limits to its endurance, bears everything patiently. Love is neither servile nor arrogant. It does not provoke
schisms or form cliques, but always acts in harmony with others. By it all God’s chosen ones have been
sanctified; without it, it is impossible to please him. Out of love the Lord took us to himself; because he
loved us and it was God’s will, our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life’s blood for us – he gave his body for our
body, his soul for our soul.
See then, beloved, what a great and wonderful thing love is, and how inexpressible its perfection. Who
are worthy to possess it unless God makes them so? To him therefore we must turn, begging of his mercy
that there may be found in us love free from human partiality and beyond reproach. Every generation from
Adam’s time to ours has passed away; but those who by God’s grace were made perfect in love have a
dwelling now among the saints, and when at last the kingdom of Christ appears, they will be revealed. Take
shelter in your rooms for a little while (Is 26:20), says Scripture, until my wrath subsides. Then I will
remember the good days, and will raise you from your graves (Ez 37:12).
Happy are we, beloved, if love enables us to live in harmony and in the observance of God’s
commandments, for then it will also gain for us the remission of our sins. Scripture pronounces happy those
whose transgressions are pardoned, whose sins are forgiven. Happy the man, it says, to whom the Lord
imputes no fault, on whose lips there is no guile (Ps 31:1-2). This is the blessing given to those whom God
has chosen through Jesus Christ our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
R ESPONSORY 1 John 4:16.7
We have put our faith in the love God has for us.
—Those who live in love, live in God, and God lives in them.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God.
—Those who live in love, live in God, and God lives in them.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 32:3-30
Jacob fights with God
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Se'ir, the country of Edom, 4
instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned
with La'ban, and stayed until now; 5 and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants; and
I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet
you, and four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the
people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, 8 thinking, “If Esau
comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape.”
9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me,
‘Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all
the mercy and all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed
this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. 11 Deliver me, I beg you, from the hand of my brother,
from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children. 12 But you
said, ‘I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for
multitude.’ ”
13 So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau, 14 two
hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milch camels and their
colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-donkeys and ten he-donkeys. 16 These he delivered into the hand
of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between
drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, ‘To
whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They
belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.’ ” 19
He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same
thing to Esau when you meet him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For
he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face;
perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the
camp.
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the
ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24
And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw
that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of
joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will
not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28
Then he said, “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with
men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Tell me, I pray, your name.” But he said, “Why is it
that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peni'el, saying,
“For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”

R ESPONSORY Gn 32:30,28
I have seen God face to face,
— and yet my life is preserved.
Then he said: Your name shall no more be Jacob, but Israel.
— And yet my life is preserved.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 51-53)
O great charity!
Let us implore forgiveness for all those transgressions that we have committed through any suggestion
of the adversary. And those who have been the leaders of sedition and disagreement ought to have respect
to the common hope. Those who live in fear and love would rather suffer, so that their neighbors should not
be involved in any suffering. And they prefer to bear blame themselves, rather than that the harmony that
has been well and piously handed down to us should suffer. For it is better that a man should acknowledge
his transgressions than he should harden his heart, as the hearts of those were hardened who stirred up
sedition against Moses the servant of God, and whose condemnation was made manifest unto all. For they
went down alive into Hades, (Nb 16:33) and death swallowed them up (Ps 48:15). Pharaoh with his army
and all the princes of Egypt, and the chariots with their riders, were sunk in the depths of the Red Sea, and
perished, for no other reason than that their foolish hearts were hardened, after so many signs and wonders
had been wrought in the land of Egypt by Moses the servant of God.
The Lord, brethren, stands in need of nothing; and he desires nothing of any one, except that
confession be made to him. David also says: I will confess unto the Lord; and that will please him more
than a young bullock that has horns and hoofs. Let the poor see it, and be glad (Ps 68:31-33). And again he
says: Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows unto the Most High. And call upon me in
the day of your trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Ps 49:14-15). For the sacrifice of God
is a broken spirit (Ps 50:19).
You understand, beloved, you understand well the Sacred Scriptures, and you have meditated earnestly
the words of God. Call then these things to your remembrance. When Moses went up into the mount, and
abode there, with fasting and humiliation, forty days and forty nights, the Lord said unto him, Moses,
Moses, go down quickly from hence; for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have
committed iniquity. They have speedily departed from the way in which I commanded them to walk, and
have made to themselves molten images (Dt 9:12). And the Lord said unto him, I have spoken to you once
and again, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Let me destroy them, and
blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make you a great and wonderful nation, and one much
more numerous than this (Dt 9:13-14). But Moses said: Far be it from You, Lord: pardon the sin of this
people; else blot me also out of the book of the living (Ex 32:32). O marvelous love! O overwhelming
perfection! The servant speaks freely to his Lord, and asks forgiveness for the people, or begs that he
himself might perish along with them.

R ESPONSORY Zechariah 7:9; Matthew 6:14

Render true judgment,
— show kindness and compassion toward each other.
If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
— show kindness and compassion toward each other.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 35:1-29
Jacob Returns to Bethel
35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God who
appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who
were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your
garments; 3 then let us arise and go up to Bethel, that I may make there an altar to the God who answered
me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the
foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which
was near She'chem.
5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were round about them, so that they did
not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he
and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar, and called the place El-beth'el,z because
there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,
died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel; so the name of it was called Al'lon-bac'uth.
9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Pad'dan-ar'am, and blessed him. 10 And God said to
him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So
his name was called Israel. 11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation
and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. 12 The land which I gave
to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” 13 Then
God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place
where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on
it. 15So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Eph'rath, Rachel went
into labor, and she had hard labor. 17 And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Fear
not; for now you will have another son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his
name Ben-o'ni; but his father called his name Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way
to Eph'rath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb,
which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of E'der.
22 While Israel dwelt in that land Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard
of it.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s first-born), Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Is'sachar, and Zeb'ulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid:
Dan and Naph'tali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who
were born to him in Pad'dan-ar'am.
27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, He'bron), where Abraham and
Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. 29 And Isaac breathed his
last; and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried
him.

R ESPONSORY Hb 11:13-14,16
These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar,
acknowledging that they were strangers and exiles on earth.
— They were seeking a better a heavenly homeland.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
—They were seeking a better a heavenly homeland.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 54-55)
In fasting and humility, pray to the Lord who sees everything
Who then among you is noble-minded, compassionate, and full of love? Let him declare, “If on my
account sedition and disagreement and schisms have arisen, I will depart, I will go away wherever you
desire, and I will do whatever the majority commands; only let the flock of Christ live on terms of peace
with the presbyters set over it.” He who acts this way shall procure to himself great glory in the Lord; and
every place will welcome him. For the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness (Ps 23:1). Those who live a life
worthy of Christ act on this way, and they would do it always without repenting.
To bring forward some examples from among the heathen: Many kings and princes, in times of
pestilence, when they had been instructed by an oracle, have given themselves up to death, in order that by
their own blood they might deliver their fellow-citizens from destruction. Many have gone forth from their
own cities, so that sedition might be brought to an end within them. We know many among ourselves who
have given themselves up to bonds, in order that they might ransom others. Many, too, have surrendered
themselves to slavery, that with the price which they received for themselves, they might provide food for
others. Many women also, being strengthened by the grace of God, have performed numerous manly
exploits. The blessed Judith, when her city was besieged, asked of the elders permission to go forth into the
camp of the strangers. Exposing herself to danger, she went out for the love which she bare to her country
and people then besieged; and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hands of a woman.
Esther also, being perfect in faith, exposed herself to no less danger, in order to deliver the twelve
tribes of Israel from impending destruction. For with fasting and humiliation she entreated the everlasting
God, who sees all things; and he, perceiving the humility of her spirit, delivered the people for whose sake
she had encountered peril.

R ESPONSORY Romans 14:19; Sirach 17:12

Let us then pursue what leads to peace
—and to building up one another.
Each of them God gives precepts about his fellow men.
—and to building up one another.
SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 37: 2-4.12-36
Joseph Dreams of Greatness
37 Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of the
family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a
lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought an ill report of them to their
father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old
age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him
more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near She'chem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are
not your brothers pasturing the flock at She'chem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him,
“Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers, and with the flock; and
bring me word again.” So he sent him from the valley of He'bron, and he came to She'chem. 15 And a man
found him wandering in the fields; and the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my
brothers,” he said, “tell me, I beg you, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have
gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Do'than.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found
them at Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to
kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him
into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will
become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us
not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness,
but lay no hand upon him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 So
when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24
and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ish'maelites coming from Gilead, with
their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to
his brothers, “What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the
Ish'maelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers
heeded him. 28 Then Mid'ianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and
sold him to the Ish'maelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and
returned to his brothers, and said, “The lad is gone; and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s
robe, and killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood; 32 and they sent the long robe with sleeves and
brought it to their father, and said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33
And he recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s robe; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph is without
doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for
his son many days. 35 A11 his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be com -
forted, and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36
Meanwhile the Mid'ianites had sold him in Egypt to Pot'iphar, an officer of Pharoah, the captain of the
guard.

R ESPONSORY Ac 7:9-10; Ws 10:13

The Patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt: but God was with him,
— and rescued him from all his afflictions.
When a righteous man was sold, wisdom did not desert him, but delivered him from sin.
— And rescued him from all his afflictions.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 56, 1-8,16; 57-58)
Let us obey his holy and glorious name
Let us then also pray for those who have fallen into any sin, that meekness and humility may be given
to them, so that they may submit, not unto us, but to the will of God. For in this way they shall secure a
fruitful and perfect remembrance from us, with sympathy for them, both in our prayers to God, and our
mention of them to the saints. Let us receive correction, beloved, on account of which no one should feel
displeased. Those exhortations by which we admonish one another are both good in themselves and highly
profitable, for they tend to unite us to the will of God. For thus said the holy Word: The Lord has severely
chastened me, yet has not given me over to death (Ps 117:18); For whom the Lord loves he chastises and
scourges every son whom he receives (Pr 3:2). And again: A virtuous man may strike me in reproof, for my
own good, but a wicked shall never anoint my head with oil (Ps 140:5). And in another text: Blessed is the
man whom the Lord reproves, and reject not the warning of the Almighty. For he causes sorrow, and again
restores to gladness; he wounds, and his hands make whole (Heb 5:17-18).
You see, beloved, that protection is afforded to those that are chastened of the Lord; for since God is
good, he corrects us, that we may be admonished by his holy chastisement.
You therefore, who laid the foundation of this sedition, submit yourselves to the presbyters, and
receive correction so as to repent, bending the knees of your hearts. Learn to be subject, laying aside the
proud and arrogant self-confidence of your tongue. For it is better for you that you should occupy a humble
but honorable place in the flock of Christ, than that, being highly exalted, you should be cast out from the
hope of his people. For thus speaks all-virtuous Wisdom: Behold, I will bring forth to you the words of my
Spirit, and I will teach you my speech. Since I called, and you did not hear; I held forth my words, and you
regarded not, but set at naught my counsels, and yielded not at my reproofs; therefore I too will laugh at
your destruction; yes, I will rejoice when ruin comes upon you, and when sudden confusion overtakes you,
when overturning presents itself like a tempest, or when tribulation and oppression fall upon you. For it
shall come to pass, that when you call upon me, I will not hear you; the wicked shall seek me, and they
shall not find me. For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; nor would they listen to
my counsels, but despised my reproofs. Wherefore they shall eat the fruits of their own way, and they shall
be filled with their own ungodliness. (Pr 1:23-32)
May God, who sees all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all flesh—who chose
our Lord Jesus Christ and us through him to be a peculiar people—grant to every soul that calls upon his
glorious and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to the
well-pleasing of his Name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, to him glory, and majesty,
and power, and honor, both now and for evermore. Amen.

R ESPONSORY 1 Samuel 15:22; Hebrews 13:17

Does the Lord so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord?
—Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Obey your leaders and defer to them.
—Obedience is better than sacrifice.
 FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis 39:1-23
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Pot'iphar, an officer of Pharoah, the captain of the guard, an
Egyptian, bought him from the Ish'maelites who had brought him down there. 2 The lord was with Joseph,
and he became a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian, 3 and his master saw
that the lord was with him, and that the lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4 So Joseph found
favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that
he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the LORD blessed
the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had, in house and
field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and having him he had no concern for anything but the
food which he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon
Joseph, and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, having me my
master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; 9 he is
not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are
his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10 And although she spoke to Jo-
seph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her. 11 But one day, when he went
into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by
his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of the house. 13
And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to
the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came
in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15 and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and
cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by
her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom
you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18 but as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he
left his garment with me, and fled out of the house.”
19 When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated
me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where
the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the lord was with Joseph and showed
him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison
committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was
the doer of it; 23 the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the
lord was with him; and whatever he did, the lord made it prosper.

R ESPONSORY Pr 5:1,5, 7:4-5

My son, be attentive to my wisdom.
— Preserve yourself from the loose woman, for her feet go down to death.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend.
— Preserve yourself from the loose woman, for her feet go down to death.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(N. 59)
The prayer of the faithful
If anyone will not obey what the Lord himself has said through us, let him know that he will run into a
fault and into a grave danger. We however will be innocent of this sin; and with prayers and unceasing
supplications we will ask the Creator of the universe to keep intact the number of his elect in the entire
world, for love of his Son Jesus Christ, through whom he has called us from darkness to light, from
ignorance to the knowledge of the glory of his name. He has called us to hope in your name, which is the
vital beginning of every creature; he has opened the eyes of our heart in order to know you, who only are
the Excellent and Most High, who has his eternal throne and whose name is holy (Is 57:15); who annuls the
designs of the nations (cf. Ps 32: 10), you place the humble on high and render vain the thoughts of the
crafty (Jb 5:11, 12); you who make poor and make rich (cf. 1 Sam 2:7; Lk 1:53), who give death and give
live (cf. Dt 32: 39), only benefactor of the spirits and of every living being (Nm 16:22), who penetrate the
abyss with a look (Dn 3:55), you see the works of men and you help them in danger; protector of the
disheartened (Jdt 9:11), creator and guardian of every soul; you who multiply the nations of the earth and
from among them all you choose those who love you through Jesus Christ your beloved Son through whom
you have instructed, sanctified and honored us. We beg you, Lord, to be our refuge and shield (Ps
118:114). Free those of us who are tormented, have pity on the humble, raise the fallen, help the poor, heal
the sick, lead back to you the wanderers of your people, satisfy the hungry, free the prisoners, sustain the
weak, comfort the cowardly; let all the people know that you are the Lord, the only God (2 K 19:19) and
Jesus Christ your Son; and we your people and the flock that you pasture (Ps 78:13).

R ESPONSORY Psalm 9:5.10.35

You upheld my right and my cause, seated on your throne, judging justly;a stronghold for the oppressed,
— but you do see; you do observe this misery and sorrow; you take the matter in hand.
To you the helpless can entrust their cause; you are the defender of orphans.
— but you do see; you do observe this misery and sorrow; you take the matter in hand.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 41:1-17a.25-43
Joseph Interprets Pharoah’s Dream
41 After two whole years, Pharoah dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up
out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass. 3 And behold, seven other cows,
gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4
And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharoah awoke. 5 And he fell asleep
and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6
And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. 7 And the thin ears
swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharoah awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 So in the
morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men;
and Pharoah told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharoah.
9 Then the chief butler said to Pharoah, “I remember my faults today. 10 When Pharoah was angry with his
servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on
the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us,
a servant of the captain of the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an
interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was
restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
14 Then Pharoah sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had
shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharoah. 15 And Pharoah said to Joseph, “I have
had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a
dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharoah, “It is not in me; God will give Pharoah a favorable
answer.” 17 Then Pharoah said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile;

R ESPONSORY Ws 10:13-14
When a righteous man was sold wisdom did not desert him, but delivered him from sin. She brought him the
scepter of a kingdom
— and authority over his masters.
She showed those who accused him to be false, and gave him everlasting honor.
— And authority over his masters.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 60-61)
 Purify us, Lord, in your truth
You, Lord, have manifested in works the everlasting constitution of the world; you, Lord, have created
the earth, showing yourself faithful in all ages, just in judgments, admirable in strength and in
magnificence, wise in creating and prudent in sustaining the created things, good in the things that are seen,
faithful towards those who trust in you, merciful and kind (Jl 2: 13) forgive us the wickedness and the
injustices, the transgressions and the faults.
Do not judge us, your servants and maidservants, for every sin, but purify us in your truth (cf. Jn
17:17), make our steps steady according to your word (Ps 118:133) so that we may walk with uprightness
of heart (1 K 9:4), justice and simplicity and that we may do what is good and right (Dt 12:28) in your
presence and in the presence of our leaders. Yes, Lord, let your face shine upon us (Ps 66:2) to make us
overabundant in goods (Dt 30:9) in peace, so that we may be protected with the Powerful hand (Dt 4:34)
and we may be freed from every sin by your outstretched arm (Dt 4:34) and free us from those who hate us
unjustly. Give harmony and peace to us and to all the inhabitants of the earth, as you gave to our fathers,
who invoked you piously in faith and in truth (1 Tm 2:7), since we obey your to most holy and almighty
name.
You, Lord, have given to our leaders and rulers on earth royal power by means of your magnificent
and indescribable strength, so that knowing the glory and honor that you attribute to them, we submit
ourselves to them without resisting to your will. Give them, Lord, health, peace, harmony, firmness in order
to administer without any offence the authority that you have given to them. You in fact, Lord, heavenly
king of the ages, give to the sons of men glory, honor and power over the earth; Lord, guide their minds
according to what is good and upright in your eyes (Dt 12:28), so that, administering with peace and
sweetness that power that you have given them, they may have your favor. To you, who alone can give
these benefits to us, and also more, we give thanks through the Shepherd of our souls, Jesus Christ, through
whom be glory and majesty to you, now and for generations and generations, forever and ever. Amen.

R ESPONSORY Ps 142:2; Jn 17:17; 14:27; 1 Cor14:33

Do not enter into judgment with your servant, O Lord.
— Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
He is not the God of disorder but of peace.
— Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.

TUESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis 41:56—42:26
The brothers of Joseph go to Egypt
56
So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the
Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to
Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one
another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us
there, that we may live, and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But
Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might befall him.
5
Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of
Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s
brothers came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers,
and knew them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?”
he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did
not know him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them; and he said to them,
“You are spies, you have come to see the weakness of the land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but to
buy food have your servants come. 11 We are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants are not
spies.” 12 He said to them, “No, it is the weakness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said,
“We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the
youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you,
you are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharoah, you shall not go from this place unless
your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain in
prison, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharoah, surely
you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in prison for three days.
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men,
let one of your brothers remain confined in your prison, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of
your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall
not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother,
in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we would not listen; therefore is this distress
come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the lad? But you would
not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23 They did not know that Joseph understood
them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and wept; and he
returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25
And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to
give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them. 26 Then they loaded their donkeys with
their grain, and departed.

R ESPONSORY 1 M 2:53; Ac 7:10

Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment,
— and he became Lord of Egypt.
God gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh.
— And he became Lord of Egypt.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 62-63)
Maintain the harmony in charity and peace
We have written enough, brothers, on what regards our religion, and it is most useful to the one who
wants to live a virtuous life practising piety and justice. We have mentioned every argument: the faith,
penance, sincere charity, continence, chastity, patience. We have reminded you that it is necessary to be
pleasing to the Almighty God living in justice, in truth and generosity; maintaining the harmony through
the forgiveness of offences, charity, peace, a constant equity, as our fathers of whom we have spoken to
you acted, with a spirit of humility towards God, the Father and creator, and towards all men.
And these warnings we have addressed to you all the more voluntarily because we knew that we were
writing to exemplary faithful who have studied in depth the divine science. It is therefore right that
following such great and numerous examples, we should submit and obey those who are the guides of our
souls, so that, pacified after the vain quarrels, we can arrive fully to the goal which is proposed to us by the
faith.
You will cause us joy and happiness if, docile to all that we write to you moved by the Holy Spirit, you
break with all resentment and jealousy, putting into practise this our exhortation to peace and harmony. We
have also sent you faithful and wise men, who have lived in the midst of us from their youth up to old age,
giving constant testimony of integrity. They will be witnesses between you and us. This we have done so
that you may know that our every preoccupation has had this scope: that soon you may reach peace.

R ESPONSORY Galatians 6:2; 5:13

Bear one another’s burdens,
— and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Serve one another through love.
— and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 43:1-11a.13-17.26-34
Joseph’s brothers go back to Egypt
Joseph’s Brothers Bring Benjamin to Egypt
43 Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain which they had brought
from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man
solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send
our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; 5 but if you will not send him, we will not go
down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ” 6 Israel said,
“Why did you treat me so ill as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man
questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you
another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions; could we in any way know that he
would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ ” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and
we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be
surety for him; of my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you,
then let me bear the blame for ever; 10 for if we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the
land in your bags, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh,
pistachio nuts, and almonds.
13
Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man; 14 may God Almighty grant you mercy before the
man, that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am
bereaved.” 15 So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin; and
they arose and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the
house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as
Joseph bade him, and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

26 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which they had with them, and
bowed down to him to the ground. 27 And he inquired about their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the
old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant our father is well, he is still
alive.” And they bowed their heads and made obeisance. 29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother
Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be
gracious to you, my son!” 30 Then Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought a
place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out; and
controlling himself he said, “Let food be served.” 32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves,
and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the
Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to
his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in amazement. 34
Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of
theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

R ESPONSORY Gn 42:36, 43:14

Jacob said to his sons, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph and Simeon are no more, and now
you would take Benjamin.
— May God grant mercy and send back your brothers.
All this has come upon me. If it must be so, then do this.
— May God grant mercy and send back your brothers.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope and martyr
(Nn. 64-65)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
and with all those who have been called
 May God who sees everything, Lord of the spirits and of all flesh, who elected the Lord Jesus Christ
and us through him to be his people, give to every soul who invoked his holy and glorious name, faith, fear,
peace, patience, forbearance, continence, chastity and purity in order to be pleasing to his name, through
Jesus Christ our high priest and protector, through whom be glory and majesty, power and honor to him
forever and ever. Amen.
Send back to us immediately with joy and peace the delegates that we send to you: Claudio Efebo,
Valerio Bitone and also Fortunato, so that they can announce to us as soon as possible that the peace and
harmony so much desired has been re-established among you, in a way that we also can rejoice as soon as
possible for your good order.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and with all those who are called by God through him,
and through him be glory, honor, power, majesty, and eternal kingdom to God forever and ever. Amen.

R ESPONSORY Philippians 2:2.3.4; 1 Thessalonians 5:14.15

Complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.
—Each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.
Admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all.
—Each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 44:1-20.30-34
Final test
Joseph Detains Benjamin
44 Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can
carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, 2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of
the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. 3 As soon as the
morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. 4 When they had gone but a short distance
from the city, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to
them, ‘Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup? 5 Is it not from this that
my lord drinks, and by this that he divines? You have done wrong in so doing.’ ”
6 When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. 7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak
such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! 8 Behold, the money
which we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then
should we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 With whomever of your servants it be found, let
him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.” 10 He said, “Let it be as you say: he with whom it is found
shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be blameless.” 11 Then every man quickly lowered his sack to
the ground, and every man opened his sack. 12 And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with
the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man
loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they fell before him to the
ground. 15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that such a man
as I can indeed divine?” 16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how
can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both
we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do
so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your
father.”
18 Then Judah went up to him and said, “O my lord, let your servant, I beg you, speak a word in my lord’s
ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are like Pharoah himself. 19 My lord asked
his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old
man, and a young brother, the child of his old age; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his
mother’s children; and his father loves him.’
30
Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, then, as his life is
bound up in the lad’s life, 31 when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die; and your servants will
bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your servant became
surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame in the
sight of my father all my life.’ 33
Now therefore, let your servant, I beg you, remain instead of the lad as
a slave to my lord; and let the lad go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the lad
is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father.”

R ESPONSORY Gn 44:33-34
How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me?
— I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father.
Let your servant remain as a slave in place of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
— fear to see the evil that would come upon my father.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily attributed to Saint Macarius, bishop
(Hom. 28: PG 34,710-711)
Woe to the soul that does not have Christ dwelling in it
When God was displeased with the Jews, he delivered Jerusalem to the enemy, and they were
conquered by those who hated them; there were no more sacrifices or feasts. Likewise angered at a soul
who had broken his commands, God handed it over to its enemies, who corrupted and totally dishonored it.
When a house has not master living in it, it becomes dark, vile and contemptible, choked with filth and
disgusting refuse. So too is a soul which has lost its master, who once rejoiced there with his angels. This
soul is darkened with sin, its desires are degraded, and it knows nothing but shame.
Woe to the path that is not walked on, or along which the voices of men are not heard, for then it
becomes the haunt of wild animals. Woe to the soul if the Lord does not walk within it to banish with his
voice the spiritual beasts of sin. Woe to the house where no master dwells, to the field where no farmer
works, to the pilotless ship, storm-tossed and sinking. Woe to the soul without Christ as its true pilot;
drifting in the darkness, buffeted by the waves of passion, storm-tossed at the mercy of evil spirits, its end
is destruction. Woe to the soul that does not have Christ dwelling in it; deserted and foul with the filth of
the passions, it becomes a haven for all the vices.
When a farmer prepares to till the soil he must put on clothing and use tools that are suitable. So
Christ, our heavenly king, came to till the soil of mankind devastated by sin. He assumed a body and, using
the cross as his plowshare, cultivated the barren soul of man. He removed the thorns and thistles which are
the evil spirits and pulled up the weeds of sin. Into the fire he cast the straw of wickedness. And when he
had plowed the soul with the wood of the cross, he planted in it a most lovely garden of the Spirit that could
produce for its Lord and God the sweetest and most pleasant fruit of every kind.

R ESPONSORY John 15:1.5.9

I am the true vine and you are the branches.
—Whoever lives in me and I in him brings forth much fruit.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
—Whoever lives in me and I in him brings forth much fruit.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 45:1-15. 21-28— 46:1-7
Joseph reveals himself
Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brothers
45 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, “Make every
one go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And
he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharoah heard it. 3 And Joseph said to
his brothers, “I am Joseph; is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were
dismayed at his presence.
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, I beg you.” And they came near. And he said, “I am
your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves,
because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land
these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God
sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it
was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharoah, and lord of all his house
and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your
son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry; 10 you shall dwell in the
land of Go'shen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your
flocks, your herds, and all that you have; 11 and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of
famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.’ 12 And now your
eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell
my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Make haste and bring my father down
here.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And
he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

21 The sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharoah, and
gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave festal garments; but to Benjamin
he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five festal garments. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten
donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision
for his father on the journey. 24
Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them,
“Do not quarrel on the way.” 25 So they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their
father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his
heart fainted, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had
said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father
Jacob revived; 28 and Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive; I will go and see him before I
die.”
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Be'er-she'ba, and offered sacrifices to the
God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he
said, “Here am I.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt;
for I will there make of you a great nation. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up
again; and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.” 5 Then Jacob set out from Be'er-she'ba; and the sons of
Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Phar oah had sent to
carry him. 6 They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and
came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his
daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

R ESPONSORY Mk 11:25; Mt 6:14; Lk 6:36

If you have anything against anyone, forgive him.
— For if you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
— For if you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

S ECOND R EADING
From a work by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(C. 10)
Abraham, example of exceptional faith
Hoping against all hope, Abraham believed and so became the father of many nations (Rom 4: 18).
What does he want to say by hoping against all hope? It means he hoped against all human hope. He
however hoped in God, who overcomes everything, who can do everything, and in whom all hope is. And
he believed: not only that he would have become a father, but a father of many nations, he, who was old
and already dried up, with a wife who was sterile and advanced in years.
 Just as it had been said to him: So shall your offspring be. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the
fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb
was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened
in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised
(Rom 4: 18-21).
This is truly to glorify God: to entrust oneself to his providence, and to his ineffable power, without
trying to scrutinize or investigate, and without saying: Why is this? For what reason? How will it happen?
It is incomprehensible for us. Neither is Abraham worthy of admiration only because of this: but also
because after such a promise he was commanded to sacrifice that only-begotten son of his whom he loved
so much and yet he was not scandalized.
Together with all the other considerations, the promise and the preceding assurance, which now
contradicted with the command received above all could have furnished him with a reason to be
scandalized. He had been promised: so shall your offspring be, like the stars of heaven (cf. Gn 15:5;22:17);
and now he was commanded to get rid of, killing cruelly, his only-begotten son whose offspring was to fill
the world.
But not even now was that just man scandalized or disturbed. He did not react as a fool or as one who
was to reason humanly would have reacted. For this Moses admired him and said: After these things, God
put Abraham to the test and said to him: Take your son, your only-begotten son whom you love, Isaac, and
offer him in holocaust on a mountain that I will indicate to you (Gn 22:1,2). And the promise? And the
assurance that he would have been the father of nations, and that his offspring would have been more
numerous than the stars of heaven?
Observe how after these words, though having heard that he had to kill his son, he accepted to
immolate the one form whom such a great multitude of nations was to have been born, to immolate him I
say, that is to get rid of him and to offer him in holocaust to God. With reason Paul, praising and extolling
him exactly for this, sets him as an example and says: Through faith Abraham, put to the test, offered
Isaac; in order to underline the greatness of his gesture and the example of faith which he has furnished us,
he adds: “and exactly he who had received the promises offered his only-begotten son (Heb 11:17).

R ESPONSORY James 2:23

Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,
—and he was called “the friend of God.”
He walked in the way of the Lord.
—and he was called “the friend of God.”

SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Genesis Gn 49:1-29.33
Jacob blesses his sons
33
When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was
gathered to his people.
Jacob's Last Words to His Sons
49 Then Jacob called his sons, and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall
you in days to come.
2
Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob,
and hearken to Israel your father.
3
Reuben, you are my first-born,
my might, and the first fruits of my
strength,
pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in
power.
4
Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you went up to my couch!
5
Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6
O my soul, come not into their council;
O my spirit, be not joined to their
company;
for in their anger they slay men,
and in their wantonness they hamstring
oxen.
7
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8
Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your
enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before
you.
9
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down, he lurked as a lion,
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?
10
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs;
and to him shall be the obedience of the
peoples.
11
Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes;
12
his eyes shall be red with wine,
and his teeth white with milk.
13
Zeb'ulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Si'don.
14
Is'sachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds;
15
he saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a slave at forced labor.
16
Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17
Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18
I wait for your salvation, O LORD.
19
Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20
Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal dainties.
21
Naph'tali is a deer let loose,
that bears comely fawns.
22
Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
23
The archers fiercely attacked him,
 shot at him, and harassed him sorely;
24
yet his bow remained unmoved,
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of
Israel),
25
by the God of your father who will help you,
by God Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26
The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of the
eternal mountains,
the bounties of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was separate
from his brothers.
27
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey,
and at evening dividing the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them,
blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he charged them, and said to them, “I am to be
gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of E'phron the Hittite,

R ESPONSORY Rv 5:5; Gn 49:10

Behold, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered;
— He can open the scroll and its seven seals.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah until he to whom it belongs comes.
— He can open the scroll and its seven seals.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on the letter to the Romans by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(Hom. 10, 4)
What for Christ was the cross and the tomb
has been the baptism for us
How could we who are already dead to sin still live in sin? (Rom 6:2). What does it mean to be dead
to sin? Not to give in to it in any way. Baptism has done it only one time: it has rendered us dead to sin.
Now we, with our commitment, must render this action of baptism continuously acting in a way that
anything sin commands us, not only should we not linger to listen to it, but we must remain insensible, like
dead men.
In another passage Paul says that sin is dead, but there he wants to demonstrate that the virtue by now
is easy; here instead wanting to shake the reader, he transfers on man the image of death. And since these
words were difficult, he passes to explain them with a more vehement tone: Or don’t you know that all of
us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him
through baptism into death (Rom 6:3-4). What does he mean when he says: We have been baptised in his
death? That we must die also as he died: the cross, in fact, is a baptism.
What the cross and the burial was for Christ, baptism has been for us, even if in the order of the same
things: Christ in fact died and was buried in the flesh, we instead to sin. For this he does not say: We have
been completely united to him in death”, but “with a death similar to his (Rom 6:5). It refers to death in
both cases, but the subject is different: that of Christ is death of the flesh, ours instead is death of sin. As
that is true, this also is true. But though being true, it is necessary for us to cooperate on our part; for this he
adds: So that, just as Christ was resurrected from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we too
may live a new life (Rom 6:4). Here he conditions the resurrection to the commitment of a holy life. How?
Do you believe, he says, that Christ died and has risen from the dead? Then believe that this will
happen in you also: it is the same thing. In fact for you also awaits the cross and the burial. If you have
been a participant with him in the cross and in the burial, much more will you be in the resurrection and in
the life: having removed what was more serious, that is sin, there is no reason to doubt what is simpler, that
is the victory over death.
Paul leaves this for the moment for the consideration of the conscience of those who listen to him: he
instead, after having put us in front of the future resurrection, demands from us another resurrection, a new
imposition of the present life which would be the consequence of conversion of the habits. When in fact he
who is dissolute becomes chaste, he who is avaricious generous, he who is violent meek, there comes about
a resurrection which is a figure of that future one. And of which resurrection are we speaking? Sin being
dead, justice rises; destroyed the old self, this new angelic life rises.

R ESPONSORY Romans 6:11-12; Colossians 2:12

You too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
—Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.
You were buried with him in baptism.
—Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.

SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 1:1—2:12
You became imitators of us

1 Paul, Silva'nus, and Timothy, To the Church of the Thessalo'nians in God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
3
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and
steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brethren beloved by God,
that he has chosen you; 5 for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power
and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to
be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you
received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit; 7 so that you
became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Acha'ia. 8 For not only has
the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Acha'ia, but your faith in
God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves
report concerning us what a welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God
from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom
he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

2 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our visit to you was not in vain; but though 2

we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philip'pi, as you know, we had
courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition. 3
For our appeal does not spring from error or uncleanness, nor is it made with guile; 4 but
just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not
to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never used either words of
flattery, as you know, or a cloak for greed, as God is witness; 6 nor did we seek glory
from men, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as
apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her
children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not
only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
9 For you remember our labor and toil, brethren; we worked night and day, that we might
not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses,
and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our behavior to you believers; 11
for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and
encouraged you and charged you 12 to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you
into his own kingdom and glory.

R ESPONSORY 1 Th 1:9-10, 3:12-13

You turned from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised
from the dead;
—Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
May the Lord make you abound in love, so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness at the
coming of our Lord Jesus.
—Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

S ECOND R EADING
From a treatise on the letter to the Philippians by Saint Ambrose, bishop
(PLS 1: 617-618)
Rejoice in the Lord always
Dear brethren, God’s love is calling us to the joys of eternal happiness for the salvation of our souls.
You have just listened to the reading from the Apostle in which he says: Rejoice in the Lord always. The
joys of this world lead to eternal misery, but the joys that are according to the Lord’s will, bring those who
persevere in them to joys that are enduring and everlasting. The Apostle therefore says: Again I say: rejoice
(Ph 4:4).
He urges us to find ever increasing joy in God and in keeping his commandments. The more we try in
this world to give ourselves completely to God our Lord by obeying his commands, the greater will be our
happiness in the life to come, and the greater the glory that will be ours in the presence of God.
Let your moderation be known to all men. That is to say, your holiness of life must be evident, not
only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of men. It must give an example of moderation and self-
control to all your contemporaries on earth and serve also as a memorial of goodness before God and men.
 The Lord is near; have no anxiety (Ph 4:5-6). The Lord is always near to all who call upon his help
with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love. He knows what you need, even before you ask him.
He is always ready to come to the aid of his faithful servants in every need. There is no reason for us to be
in a state of great anxiety when evils threaten; we must remember that God is very near us as our protector.
The Lord is at hand for those who are troubled in heart, and he will save those who are downcast in spirit.
The tribulations of the just are many, and the Lord will rescue them from them all (Ps 33:19-20). If we do
our best to obey and keep his commandments, he does not delay in giving us what he has promised.
But in every prayer and entreaty let your petitions be made known to God, with thanksgiving (Ph 4:6).
In time of trouble we must not grumble or be downhearted; God forbid! We must rather be patient and
cheerful, giving thanks to God always in everything (Ep 5:20).

R ESPONSORY Psalm 39:3-4.2

The Lord set my feet upon a rock and made my steps firm.
—He put a new song in my mouth.
He heard my cry for help and rescued me from the pit of destruction.
—He put a new song in my mouth.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 2:13—3:13
Friendship between Paul and the Thessalonians
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God
which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is,
the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brethren, became
imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea; for you suffered the
same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the
Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all men 16
by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they may be saved—so as always to
fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last!
17 But since we were deprived of you, brethren, for a short time, in person not in heart,
we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face; 18 because
we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what
is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not
you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at

Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the gospel of
Christ, to establish you in your faith and to exhort you, 3 that no one be moved by these
afflictions. You yourselves know that this is to be our lot. 4 For when we were with you,
we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and
as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent that I might know
your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor would
be in vain.
6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of
your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us,
as we long to see you—7 for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we
have been comforted about you through your faith; 8 for now we live, if you stand fast in
the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we
feel for your sake before our God, 10 praying earnestly night and day that we may see you
face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?11 Now may our God and Father
himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord make you
increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you, 13 so that he
may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the
coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

R ESPONSORY 1 Th 3:12-13; 2 Th 2:16-17

May the Lord make you abound in love to one another and to all men,
— so that he may establish your hearts in holiness.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself comfort your hearts in every good work and word.
— So that he may establish your hearts in holiness.
S ECOND R EADING
From a commentary on the psalms by Saint Hilary of Poitiers, bishop
(Ps. 132: PLS 1, 224-245)

The hearts and minds of all believers

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity! (Ps 132:1) It is good and pleasant
for brothers to dwell in unity, because when they do so their association creates the assembly of the
Church. The term “brothers” describes the bond of affection arising from their singleness of purpose.
We read that when the apostles first preached, the chief instruction they gave lay in this saying: The
hearts and minds of all believers were one (Ac 4:32). So it is fitting for the people of God to be brothers
under one Father, to be united under one Spirit, to live in harmony under one roof, to be limbs of one body.
It is pleasant and good for brothers to dwell in unity. The prophet suggested a comparison for this good
and pleasant activity when he said: It is like the ointment on the head which ran down over the beard of
Aaron, down upon the collar of his garment (Ps 132:2). Aaron’s oil was made of the perfumes used to
anoint a priest. It was God’s decision that his priest should have this consecration first, and that our Lord
too should be anointed, but not visibly, by those who are joined with him (Ps 44:8). Aaron’s anointing did
not belong to this world; it was not done with the horn used for kings, but with the oil of gladness (Ps 44:8).
So afterward Aaron was called the anointed one as the Law prescribed.
When this oil is poured out upon men of unclean heart, it snuffs out their lives, but when it is received
as an anointing of love, it exudes the sweet odor of harmony with God. As Paul says, we are the goodly
fragrance of Christ (2 Cor 2:15). So just as it was pleasing to God when Aaron was anointed priest with
this oil, so it is good and pleasant for brothers to dwell in unity.
Now the oil ran down from his head to his beard. A beard adorns a man of mature years. we must not
be children before Christ except in the restricted scriptural sense of being children in wickedness but not in
our way of thinking. Now Paul calls all who lack faith, children, because they are two weak to take solid
food and still need milk As he says: I fed you with milk rather than the solid food for which you were not
yet ready; and you are still not ready (1 Cor 3:2).

R ESPONSORY Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 12:13

We are all one body in Christ, and in the one body we are all members of one another,
—Yet the measure of grace Christ gives to each of us is different.
In the one Spirit, we were all baptized, and all of us have given to drink of the one Spirit.
—Yet the measure of grace Christ gives to each of us is different.

TUESDAY

F IRST R EADING
From the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 4:1-18
Sanctification and hope in the resurrection
4 Finally, brethren, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us
how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and
more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is
the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from immorality; 4 that each one of
you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust
like heathens who do not know God; 6 that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in
this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we solemnly forewarned
you. 7 For God has not called us for uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever
disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9 But concerning love of the brethren you have no need to have any one write to you, for
you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do love
all the brethren throughout Macedonia. But we exhort you, brethren, to do so more and
more, 11 to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands,
as we charged you; 12 so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be
dependent on nobody.
13 But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that
you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen
asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who
are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the arch-
angel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
first; 17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore
comfort one another with these words.

R ESPONSORY 1 Th 4:16; Mk 13:27; Mt 24:31

The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of a command, with the archangel’s call and the
sound of the trumpet of God.
— And then he will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of earth to the other.
When the Son of Man comes, he will send out his angles with a loud trumpet blast.
— And then he will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of earth to the other.
S ECOND R EADING
From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(Om. Su alcuni pasi del Nuovo Testamento, 6)
Let us behave in a way that we can live with Christ always
He had promised the resurrection of the bodies, immortality, the encounter in heaven, the taking up on
the clouds: these realities he demonstrates to us with facts. And in what way? After death he rose and for
forty days he remained with the apostles, in order to harden their certainty and to show them how our
bodies will be after the resurrection. Besides, he who had said through Paul: We will be taken up into the
clouds in order to meet the Lord in the air, demonstrated this also. In fact after the resurrection, on the
point of ascending into heaven, he was lifted up on high, in their sight and a cloud covered him from their
gaze. And they were gazing into heaven while he went up from them (Ac 1:9-10). Thus, our body also will
be consubstantial to his being of the same nature: as in fact is the head so also will be the body, as the
beginning, so also the end. Making a clear reference to this, Paul said that he will transform our miserable
body in order to conform it to his glorious body (Ph 3:21).
 If it is conformed, it will go along the same way and will be lifted up in the same way up above the
clouds. And since until then the word of the kingdom of heaven had been hidden for those who heard it, he
therefore when he went up the mountain was transfigured in front of the eyes of his disciples, showing
them beforehand the future glory and, in a hidden way, what our body would be.
Beloved, examine this reality, and instructed by the Word and by what we have seen, let us behave in a
way that, taken up into the clouds, we may always live with him and, saved through his grace, we may
enjoy the future goods. May it be granted to us to attain all this in Christ Jesus our Lord, with him to the
Father and to the Holy Spirit be glory, dominion, honor, adoration now and forever and ever. Amen.

R ESPONSORY Hebrews 10:37-38; John 3:36

For, after just a brief moment, he who is to come shall come; he shall not delay.
— But my just one shall live by faith.
Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
— But my just one shall live by faith.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 5:1-28
Children of the light

5 But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything
written to you. 2 For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a
thief in the night. 3 When people say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden
destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a woman with child, and there
will be no escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like
a thief. 5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of
darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For
those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But, since
we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for
a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we wake or
sleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another
up, just as you are doing.
12 But we beg you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in
the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their
work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idle,
encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that none of
you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice
always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit, 20 do not despise prophesying, 21 but
test everything; hold fast what is good, 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and
body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls
you is faithful, and he will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
27 I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brethren.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

R ESPONSORY 1 Th 5:9-10; Col 1:13

God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
— who died for us that we might live with him.
He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.
— Who died for us that we might live with him.

S ECOND R EADING
From the treatise on Spiritual Perfection by Diadochus of Photice, bishop
(Cap. 6,26.27.30: PG 65, 1169.1175-1176)
The mind has a spiritual sense which teaches us to distinguish
between good and evil
The light of true knowledge makes it possible to discern without error the difference between good and
evil. Then the path of justice, which leads to the Sun of Justice, brings the mind into the limitless light of
knowledge, since it never fails to seek the love of God with all confidence.
Therefore, we must maintain great stillness of mind even in the midst of our struggles. We shall then
be able to distinguish between the different types of thoughts that come to us: those that are good, those
sent by God, we will treasure in our memory; those that are evil and inspired by the devil we will reject. A
comparison with the sea may help us. A tranquil sea allows the fisherman to gaze right to its depths. No
fish can hide there and escape his sight. The stormy sea, however, becomes murky when it is agitated by
the winds. The very depths that it revealed in its placidness, the sea now hides. The skills of the fisherman
are useless.
Only the Holy Spirit can purify the mind: unless the strong man enters and robs the thief, the booty
will not be recovered (cf. Lk 11:22). So by every means, but especially by peace of soul, we must try to
provide the Holy Spirit with a resting place. Then we shall have the light of knowledge shining within us at
all times, and it will show up for what they are all the dark and hateful temptations that come from demons,
and not only will it show them up: exposure to this holy and glorious light will also greatly diminish their
power.
This is why the Apostle says: Do not stifle the Spirit (1 Th 5:19). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of
goodness: do not grieve him by your evil actions and thoughts, and so deprive yourself of the defense of his
light affords you. In his own being, which is eternal and life-giving, he is not stifled, but when he is grieved
he turns away and leaves the mind in darkness, deprived of the light of knowledge.
The mind is capable of tasting and distinguishing accurately whatever is presented to it. Just as when
our health is good we can tell the difference between good and bad food by our bodily sense of taste and
reach for what is wholesome, so when our mind is strong and free from all anxiety, it is able to taste the
riches of divine consolation, and to preserve, through love, the memory of this taste. This teaches us what is
best with absolute certainty. As Saint Paul says: My prayer is that your love may increase more and more
in knowledge and insight, and so enable you to choose what is best (Ph 1:9-10).

R ESPONSORY Tobit 4:19; 14:8

Bless the Lord God at all times; and ask him to guide you in his paths,
—so that all that you do may be rooted in him.
Ask God to guide you that you may do what is pleasing to him in sincerity and with all your strength.
—so that all that you do may be rooted in him.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 1:1-12
Greetings and thanksgiving

R ESPONSORY 2 Th 1:10; Ps 145:13

The Lord shall come on that day to be glorified in his saints,
—and marveled at in all who have believed.
The Lord is faithful in all his words, gracious in all his deeds.
—And marveled at in all who have believed.
S ECOND R EADING
From the Catecheses by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop
(Cat. 13,1.3.6.23: PG 33, 771-774.779.802)
Even in time of persecution let the cross be your joy
The Catholic Church glories in every deed of Christ. Her supreme glory, however, is the cross. Well
aware of this, Paul says: God forbid that I glory in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! (Ga
6:14)
At Siloam, there was a sense of wonder, and rightly so. A man born blind recovered his sight. But of
what importance is this, when there are so many blind people in the world? Lazarus rose from the dead, but
even this only affected Lazarus. What of those countless numbers who have died because of their sins?
Those five miraculous loaves fed five thousand people. Yet this is a small number compared to those all
over the world who were starved by ignorance. After eighteen years a woman was freed from the bondage
of Satan. But are we not all shackled by the chains of our own sins?
For us all, however, the cross is the crown of victory! It has brought light to those blinded by
ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of mankind!
Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; rather, glory in it. Although it is a stumbling block to
the Jews and folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:18.23), the message of the cross is our salvation. Of course it is
folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it was not a mere
man who died for us, but the Son of God, God made man.
In the Mosaic law, a sacrificial lamb banished the destroyer. But now it is the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. Will he not free us from our sins even more? The blood of an animal, a sheep,
brought salvation. Will not the blood of the only-begotten Son bring us greater salvation?
He was not killed by violence, he was forced to give up his life. His was a willing sacrifice. Listen to
his own words: I have the power to lay down my life and to take it up again (cf. Jn 10:18). Yes, he willingly
submitted to his own passion. He took joy in his achievement; in his crown of victory he was glad and in
the salvation of man he rejoiced. He did not blush at the cross for by it he was to save the world. No, it was
not a lowly man who suffered but God incarnate. He entered the contest for the reward he would win by his
patient endurance.
Certainly in times of tranquility the cross should give you joy. But maintain the same faith in times of
persecution. Otherwise you will be a friend of Jesus in times of peace and his enemy during war. Now you
receive the forgiveness of your sins and the generous gift of grace from your king. When war comes, fight
courageously for him.
Jesus never sinned; yet he was crucified for you. Will you refuse to be crucified for him, who for your
sake was nailed to the cross? You are not the one who gives the favor; you have received one first. For your
sake he was crucified on Golgotha. Now you are returning his favor; you are fulfilling your debt to him.

R ESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 1:18.23

To those who are on the way to destruction, the message of the cross is foolishness;
—but we who are on the way to salvation see it as the proof of God’s power.
We preach a crucified Christ: an obstacle to the Jews, sheer madness to the Gentiles.
—but we who are on the way to salvation see it as the proof of God’s power.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 2:1-17
The day of the Lord

R ESPONSORY Mt 24:30; 2 Th 2:8

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,
— and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth.
— And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily written in the fourth century
(Hom. 18, 7-11)
May you be filled with the fullness of Christ
Those who by God’s gracious gift have become his children, born again from above of his Holy Spirit,
possessing Christ within themselves to illuminate and recreate them, are guided in the many and varied
ways of the Spirit, as grace works in their hearts invisibly and in peace of soul.
Sometimes, they are, as it were, in grief and lamentation for the human race, and pouring out prayers
for the whole race of Adam, they give way to tears and grief, burning with the love of the Spirit for
mankind. At another time they are inflamed by the Spirit with such joy and love that, were it possible, they
would take all mankind, good and bad alike, into their hearts. Then again, they are thrust down below all
men in the humility of the Spirit so that they look on themselves as the most abject and least of all.
At other times the Spirit in a joy beyond words sustains them.
Sometimes, they are like some strong men, who, clad in the full panoply of royal armour and going
down to battle, fight strongly against his enemies and overcome them. In the same way, the spiritual man
takes up the heavenly arms of the Spirit, attacks the enemy, does battle and brings him into submission
beneath his feet. At another time the soul rests in a most profound, untroubled silence and peace, and has its
being only in the joys of the Spirit, in a serenity beyond words and in a true well-being. Sometimes it is
instructed by grace in a certain way of understanding and wisdom beyond words, and in the unsearchable
knowledge of the Spirit, in matters that neither tongue nor lips can express. Again at other times it is like
any other human being.
In so many varied ways grace has its effect in these people and guides each soul by different means.
Grace gives newness of life as God wills and exercises the soul in different ways so that it may be restored
to the heavenly Father in integrity, blameless and purified. Let us then pray to God, with faith working
through love and hope, that he may grant us the heavenly grace of the gift of the Spirit; that the Spirit may
guide us and lead us into the fullness of God’s will and restore us by his manifold ways of quiet; and that
with the help of this guidance and working of grace and spiritual advancement we may be found worthy to
attain to the perfection of the fullness of Christ, as the Apostle says, ‘that you may be filled with all the
fullness of Christ .’

R ESPONSORY 1 John 2:20.27; Joel 2:23

You have the anointing that comes from the holy one, And the anointing that you received from him
remains in you,
— so that you do not need anyone to teach you: his anointing teaches you about everything.
Exult and rejoice in the Lord, your God! He has given you the teacher of justice.
— so that you do not need anyone to teach you: his anointing teaches you about everything.

SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 3:1-18
Paul’s exhortations
R ESPONSORY 1 Th 2:13; Ep 1:13
When you received the word of God,
— you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is the Word of God.
In him you have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
—You accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is the Word of God.
S ECOND R EADING
From the pastoral constitution of the Church in the modern world of Second Vatican Council
(Gaudium et spes, nos. 35-36)
Man and his activity
The activity of man, as it has its origin in man, has man also its end. Man through his work not only
introduces change into things and into society; he also perfects himself. He learns a great deal; he develops
his powers; he advances above and beyond himself. This kind of gain, properly understood, is more
valuable than any external possessions. Man’s worth is greater because of what he is than because of what
he has.
In the same way, all that men do to secure greater justice, more widespread brotherhood and a more
humane structure of social relationships has more value than advance in technology. Technological
development may provide the raw material for human progress, but of itself it is totally unable to bring it
into being.
The criterion, therefore, for assessing man’s activity is this: does it, in accordance with God’s plan, fit
in with the true good of the human race and allow man, individually and corporately to develop and fulfill
his vocation in its entirety?
Many of our contemporaries, however, seem to be afraid that a closer relationship between religion
and man’s activity will injure the autonomy of men or societies or the different sciences. If by the
autonomy of earthly realities we mean that created things and even societies have their own distinctive laws
and values, which must be gradually identified, used and regulated by men, this kind of autonomy is rightly
demanded. Not only is it insisted on by modern man, it is also in harmony with the design of the Creator.
By the very fact of creation everything is provided with its own stability, its own truth and goodness, its
own laws and orderly functioning. Man must respect these, acknowledging the methods proper to each
science or art.
One should therefore deplore certain attitudes of mind which are sometimes found even among
Christians because of a failure to recognize the legitimate autonomy of science. These mental attitudes have
given rise to conflict and controversy and led many to assume that faith and science are mutually opposed.
If, on the other hand, the autonomy of the temporal order is understood to mean that created things do
not depend on God, and that man may use them without reference to the Creator, all who believe in God
will realize how false is this teaching. For creation without the Creator fades into nothingness.

R ESPONSORY Deuteronomy 2:7; 8:5

The Lord has blessed you in all that you have done; he has watched over your progress as you journeyed
through the vast desert.
—The Lord your God has been with you; no need of yours has been forgotten.
As a father teaches his son, so the Lord your God was disciplining you.
—The Lord your God has been with you; no need of yours has been forgotten.

SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 1:1-14
Thanksgiving in the midst of tribulations

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. To the
Church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Acha'ia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share
abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if
we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently
endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know
that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in
Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9 Why,
we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on
ourselves but on God who raises the dead; 10 he delivered us from so deadly a peril, and
he will deliver us; on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also
must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing
granted us in answer to many prayers.
12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the
world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly
wisdom but by the grace of God. 13 For we write you nothing but what you can read and
understand; I hope you will understand fully, 14 as you have understood in part, that you
can be proud of us as we can be of you, on the day of the Lord Jesus.

R ESPONSORY Ps 94:18-19; 2 Co 1:5

Your steadfast love, O Lord, holds me up.
— When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we shall share abundantly in comfort
too.
— When the cares of my heart are many, your consolation cheers my soul.
S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(Hom. 2, 4-5)
The strength of the communitarian prayer
Let us then be diligent in coming together in prayer; and let us pray for one another, as the first
Christians did for the Apostles. For so we both fulfill the commandment of the Lord, and are pushed unto
love: and when I say love, I speak of every good thing: and also learn to give thanks with more earnestness:
for they that give thanks to God for the things of others, much more will they for their own. This also was
David wanted to do, saying: Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together (Ps 34:3), the
Apostle too does this everywhere. Let us also labor in this; and let us show forth unto all the beneficence of
God that we may get companions in the act of praise: for if when we have received any good from men, by
proclaiming it forth we make them more eager to serve us: much more shall we, by telling abroad the
benefits of God, draw him on to more good-will.
And if when we have received benefits of men we stir up others also to join us in thanksgiving, much
more ought we to bring many unto God who may give thanks for us. For if Paul who had so great
confidence toward God does this, it is much more necessary for us to do it.
Let us then exhort the saints to give thanks for us; and let us do the same ourselves for one another. To
priests especially this good work belongs, since it is an exceeding privilege. For drawing near, we first give
thanks for the whole world and the good things common to all. Even though the blessings of God be
common, yet does the common preservation include your own. Therefore, you must have one thanksgiving
for your own special blessing and for the common blessing you must render your own peculiar praise: for
he makes the sun shine not for you only, but also for all in common; nevertheless you for your part have it
whole. For it was made so large for the common good; and yet you individually see it as large as all men
have seen it; so that you owe a thanksgiving as great as all together; and you ought to give thanks for what
all have in common and likewise for the virtue of others; for on account of others, too, we receive many
blessings: for had there been found in Sodom ten righteous only, they would not have suffered what they
did. So then let us give thanks also for the confidence of others toward God. For this custom is an ancient
one, planted in the Church from the beginning. Thus Paul also gives thanks for the Romans, (cf. Rom 1:8.)
for the Corinthians, (cf. 1 Cor 1:4) for the whole world, (cf. 1 Tm 2:1). And tell me not, ‘The good work is
none of mine,’ for though it is not yours, yet even so you ought to give thanks that your member is such a
one. And besides, by your acclamation you make it yours, and share in the crown, and you shall also
receive the gift.
On this account, the Church establishes that prayers would be done as this, not only for the faithful but
for the catechumens as well. The law stirs up the faithful to make supplication for the uninitiated, for when
the deacon says, ‘Let us pray earnestly for the catechumens,’ he does nothing else other than motivate the
whole multitude of the faithful to pray for them. Although the catechumens are considered still outside for
they are not yet inserted in the Body of Christ and have not yet participated in the mysteries because they
are divided from the spiritual flock. Now if we ought to intercede for them, then how much more for our
own members.

R ESPONSORY James 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray for one another, that you may be healed.
—The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.
Pray without ceasing.
—The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 1:14b—2:11
Paul changed his plans
R ESPONSORY 2 Co 1:21-22; Dt 5:2,4
It is God who establishes us with you in Christ; he has commissioned and put his seal upon us.
— He has given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
The Lord our God made a covenant with us; he spoke with us face to face.
— He has given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
S ECOND R EADING
From a sermon by Eusebius of Emesa, bishop
(Disc. 14, 7-8)
The apostles preached Jesus crucified
Two men, without a supply of food, without money, without a change of clothes, entered into the city.
Who do you think would receive them? Where would the door be opened to them? Who would know
them? What task was prepared for them and where? Do you not admire the power of he who sent them and
the faith of those who were sent? Two foreigners entered into the city. What did they carry? What did they
preach? He has been crucified, they said.
In front of the Jews they were persons of low extraction, uneducated, without studies, poor. But their
preaching was the cross; here is the faith! The valor triumphed in the obstacles: the cross was proclaimed,
and the temples were destroyed; the cross is proclaimed, and the kings are overcome. The cross is
proclaimed, and the wise are convinced of error, the pagan feasts abolished and the idols burnt.
You marvel that credit was given to the apostles, or that those were able to believe, that they were
converted, that they had welcomed them?
Let these marvellous facts not pass us by unobserved. Strange men, unknown, lacking in knowledge
and of amazing newness, went around the world preaching the crucified, proposing fasting in the place of
gluttony, an uncomfortable sobriety in the place of the sensuality. And those realities were quite heavy, for
those who had been called to accept these noble exhortations in the place of the degrading customs. Yet it
had a hold on the persons and power over the communities of the small towns. What treasure did they
have? The power of the cross. He who had sent them, had not given them gold: an abundance of this was
already to be found with the kings. He gave them instead what was impossible for the kings to purchase or
possess: to mortal men he gave the gift of resurrecting the dead; to them, subjected to sicknesses, he gave
the power to free the others. A king cannot bring a soldier back to life, and a king also gets sick.
Instead he who sent them, has the power to resurrect the dead and to heal the sick. Examine attentively
the riches of the kings and that of the apostles. See the diversity of condition: the king is a famous man, the
apostles are poor men; but though being mortals, they operate divine things through divine virtue.
 If someone then does not believe that the apostles had operated miracles, the wonder increases all the
more. If in fact they resurrected the dead, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk and cleansed the
lepers, through these signs they eliminated the irreligiousness and planted the faith; he who does not
believe these signs of which there is a written testimony is to be marvelled at. Before the crucifixion the
disciples did not operate anything; afterwards yes. If they had done something before the crucifixion, they
did it secretly; but they performed them clearly when the divine blood destroyed the token document which
weighed down on us; when the impure were washed with the blood; when the death was killed by death,
when God made man overcame he who devoured men; when obedience killed sin; when through one man,
Adam was recalled to life; when through the Virgin sin was cancelled.
They listen to the apostles, the shadows awaken the men who sleep: the divine power, in fact, fills
those to whom it is shown. They were not any more what they were before, what we were: they were re-
vested. And as the iron before coming into contact with fire is cold and similar to other iron, but when it is
put into the fire and has become incandescent loses its cold nature and emits another from itself, in the
same way do the mortals who have been re-vested with Jesus Christ behave. Thus Paul teaches saying: It is
not I who live anymore—I have died an excellent death—but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20).

R ESPONSORY Galatians 2:19.20

I died to the law that I might live for God. I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me by faith in the Son of
God
—who has loved me and given himself up for me.
I have been crucified with Christ.
—who has loved me and given himself up for me.

TUESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 2:12—3:6
Paul, minister of the new covenant

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 3:4-6
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ to God;
— who has qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our sufficiency is from God,
— who has qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit.
S ECOND R EADING
From a commentary on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Ps. 92, 2)
We are the fragrance of Christ
You know well, brothers, that when our Lord became man and preached the gospel, some were pleased
and others were not. There was a diversity of opinion among the Jews: Some said: ‘He is good! Others
instead: No, he deceives the people!’ (cf. Jn 7:12) Some therefore spoke well of him, others grumbled, were
ironic and sarcastic and challenged him.
For those therefore who were pleased with him he covered himself with splendor, for those who were
not pleased with him he girded himself with power (Ps 92:1). And you imitate your Lord, in order to be like
the cloak with which he girds himself: be splendor for those to whom good works are pleasing, be strength
for the detractors.
Hear how the Apostle Paul, follower of his Lord, also had splendor and strength. We are the aroma of
Christ- he says- among those who are being saved and those who are perishing (2 Cor 2:15). Those who
love good in fact are saved, those who despise it perish. For his part, he had the good aroma; in fact, he was
the good aroma. But, poor are those who get lost because they have taken themselves away from the grace
of the good aroma!
He does not say: for these we are a pleasant aroma, for those unpleasant, but: We are the good aroma
of Christ in the whole world, among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. And
immediately he adds: to the one we are the smell of death for death and to the other the fragrance of life for
life (2 Cor 2:16)
For those to whom he was the aroma of life for the life he was clothed with splendor; for those to
whom he was the aroma of death for death, he was clothed with strength.
If you rejoice when men praise you and approve of your good works, while when they blame you, you
stop doing good and think that you have almost lost the fruit of good works because you find that they
criticise you, then you are not a steady person: you do not belong to the earth that will never be shaken (Ps.
92:1).
The Lord clothes himself, girds himself with strength. Saint Paul also says: With the weapons of justice
to the right and to the left. I have seen where the splendor and the strength are — in the glory and in the
dishonor (2 Cor 6:7-8): in success, there is splendor, and in dishonor there is strength.
He was proclaimed worthy of glory by some, by others he was despised as contemptible. To those who
welcomed him he conferred beauty, against those who despised him he was strength. And thus he explains
up to the end of the passage, when he says that the apostles are like people who have nothing, and yet
possess everything (2 Cor 6:10). When he has everything he is covered with splendor, when he has nothing
he is girded with strength.

R ESPONSORY Acts 20:21.20; Romans 1:16

In entreating you to believe in the Lord Jesus,
— I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received
from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God's grace.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
— I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received
from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God's grace.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 3:7—4:4
The importance of the ministry

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 3:18; Ph 3:3

With unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,
—we are all being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.
We worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus.
—We are all being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.
S ECOND R EADING
From The Imitation of Christ
(Lib. 3, 14)
The truth of the Lord remains forever
Lord, when the thunder of your judgments peals out above me, every bone in my body shakes with fear
and trembling and my soul is aghast with terror. There I stand, dazed with dread, as I consider that the very
heavens are not pure in your sight. You found evil among the angels, and yet you did not spare them (cf Jb
15:15; 4:18); then what will become of me? The very stars fell from heaven; what hope dare I have, I who
am but dust? Men whose deeds appeared worthy of praise have fallen to the lowest depths; men who are
the Bread of Angels I have seen feeding with relish on pigs’ garbage.
There can be no holiness, then, Lord, if you withdraw your supporting hand. No wisdom can be of any
help, once you cease to guide it; no courage can support us, if you cease to keep it in being. No chastity is
secure when you are not its guardian. No watch we keep by ourselves can avail us, if you do not keep holy
vigil at our side. No, when you leave us, we sink and perish; when you visit us, we are raised up and
restored to life. We have no sure footing, but through you we are made firm; we grow cold at heart, but you
stir us once more into flame.
How deeply, Lord, must I submit myself to your unsearchable judgments! What is all flesh in your
sight? Shall the clay dare ask the potter who moulds it, ‘What ails you?’ (cf. Is 29:16) How can a man extol
himself with empty boasting, if his heart is truly subject to God?
The whole world cannot make a man put himself on a pedestal if the Truth has made him subject to
itself; the man who has fixed his whole hope in God will not be moved by the lips of all who praise him.
Why, all those who so praise him are themselves nothing; they will vanish along with the sound of their
words but the Lord remains faithful to his word forever

R ESPONSORY Psalm 118:115.114.113

Depart from me, you wicked, that I may observe the commands of my God.
—You are my refuge and shield; in your word I hope.
I hate every hypocrite; your teaching I love.
—You are my refuge and shield; in your word I hope.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 4:5-18
The weakness and faith of Paul

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 4:6; Dt 5:24

For it is God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”;
— he has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Christ.
Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice.
— He has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Christ.
S ECOND R EADING
From the Explanations of the Psalms by Saint Ambrose, bishop
(Ps. 43,89-90: CSEL 64, 324-326)
We are sealed with the glory of your face
Why do you turn away your face? (Ps 43:25) We think that God is turning his face away from us when
we find ourselves in such distress that our senses are clouded in darkness and we cannot see the glory of
him who is truth. We are convinced that if God would pay attention to our condition and be pleased to visit
our souls, nothing could plunge us in gloom. If a person’s face is more enlightening than other parts of his
body – so that when we look at someone we either see him as a stranger or recognize him as someone we
know, whom our glance will not allow to pass unrecognized – how much more does the face of God
enlighten those on whom he directs his gaze.
In his usual way Saint Paul has something striking to say on this subject. He employs his gift for
making Christ better understood to bring him closer to us through the use of appropriate ideas and
expressions. He tells us: God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has caused light to shine in
our hearts, so that we might receive the revelation of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6).
We know, then, the place where Christ is shining within us. He is the eternal splendor enlightening our
minds and hearts. He was sent by the Father to shine on us in the glory of his face, and so enable us to see
what is eternal and heavenly, where before we were imprisoned in the darkness of this world.
There should be no need for me to speak of Christ when even Peter the apostle said to the man born
lame: Look at us (Ac 3:4). He looked at Peter and was enlightened by the grace of faith. He would not have
received healing had he not believed with faith.
 Such was the glory possessed by the apostles. Yet Zacchaeus, hearing that the Lord Jesus was passing
by, climbed a tree, for he was small in stature and could not see him because of the crowd. He saw Christ
and discovered the light. He saw Christ and gave up what was his own, though he was a man who took
what belonged to others.
Why do you turn away your face? We may say it in another way. Even if, Lord, you turn your face
away from us, yet we are sealed with the glory of your face (Ps 4:7). Your glory is in our hearts and shines
in the deep places of our spirit. Indeed, no one can live if you should turn away you face.

R ESPONSORY Psalm 4:7; Hebrews 10:32

God has said: Let light shine out of darkness.
—He has shone in our hearts that we might make known the glory of God shining on the face of Christ
Jesus.
Remember the days gone by, after you had been enlightened, how you endured a great contest of suffering.
—He has shone in our hearts that we might make known the glory of God shining on the face of Christ
Jesus.
FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 5:1-21
The love of Christ urges us
R ESPONSORY 2 Co 5:18; Rm 8:32
Through Christ, God reconciled us to himself
— and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.
— And gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
S ECOND R EADING
From the Explanations of the psalms by Saint Ambrose, bishop
(Ps. 48, 14-16)

Christ is redemption and salvation for everyone

It was God who reconciled the world to himself in Christ (2 Cor 5:19), in that Christ Jesus, of whom
only it was said: The Word became flesh and came to dwell among us (Jn 1:14). He did not dwell amongst
us therefore as a brother, but as the Lord. Therefore, when Christ reconciled the world to God, he himself
certainly did not need reconciliation. For what sin of his own was he to make propitiation, when he knew
no sin? When the Jews were asking for the drachma, which according to the law was given for sin, he said
to Peter: Simon, from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from others? Peter
answered: From others. Jesus said to him: Then the sons are free. However, not to give offence to them, go
to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find
a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself (Mt 17:25-27).
He is pointing out that he is not obliged to propitiation for sins on his own behalf, because he is not a
slave of sin, but the Son of God, free from all fault. For the Son sets free; it is the slave who is guilty. So he
was free from all sin, and gives no price of redemption for his own soul: the price of his blood was more
than sufficient to redeem all the sins of the world. Justly then he sets others free, owing nothing for himself.
Furthermore: not only does Christ owe no price of redemption for himself or propitiation for sin, but if
you take the case of any man, it can be understood that no individuals owe propitiation for themselves,
since Christ is the propitiation of all, and himself the redemption of all.
What man’s blood has now the power to redeem him, when Christ shed his own blood for the
redemption of all? Is there anyone’s blood comparable to the blood of Christ? Or what man is so mighty
that he can offer propitiation for himself surpassing what Christ offered in himself, Christ who alone
reconciled the world with God through his own blood? What greater victim is there, what superior
sacrifice, what better advocate than he who was made the atonement for the sins of all, and gave his life as
the redemption for us?
 The individual propitiation or redemption, therefore, is not to seek, because the price of all is the blood
of Christ, by which the Lord Jesus redeemed us, who alone reconciled the Father. He labored to the end,
since he took upon himself our labors, as he says, Come to me, all you who labor, and I will refresh you
(Mt. 11: 28).

R ESPONSORY Colossians 1:21.22; Romans 3:25

You who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deed she has now reconciled in his fleshly
body through his death,
—to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him,
God set him forth as an expiation, so that by his death he might be righteous and justify the one who has
faith in Jesus.
—to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him,

SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 6:1—7:1
Tribulations of Paul; his exhortation to sanctification

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 6:14-16; 1 Co 3:16

What partnership have righteousness and iniquity? What agreement has Christ with Belial, or the temple of
God with idols?
— We are the temple of the living God.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that his Spirit dwells in you?
— We are the temple of the living God.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(Hom. 13, 1-2: PG 61,491-492)
Our heart is enlarged
Our heart is enlarged (2 Cor 6:11). For as heat makes things expand, so is the work of love to expand
the heart, for its power is to heat and make fervent. It is this that opened Paul’s lips and enlarged his heart.
For I do not love only in words; he means, but by loving heart too is in unison with my words; and so I
speak with confidence, without restraint or reserve. There was nothing more capacious than the heart of
Paul, for he loved all the faithful with as intimate a love as any lover could have for a loved one, his love
not being divided and lessened but remaining whole and entire for each of them. And what marvel is it that
his love for the faithful was such, since his heart embraced the unbelievers, too, throughout the whole
world?
So he did not just say, “I love you,” but with greater emphasis: Our mouth is open, our heart is
enlarged; we hold you all in it, and not only that, but with room for you to move freely. For those who are
loved enter fearlessly into the heart of their lover. And therefore he says: You are not constrained because
of us, but you are constrained in your own affections. See how this reproach is tempered with much
forbearance, as is the way with those who love much. For he did not say: You do not love me, but you do
not love me in the same measure; for he did not want to charge them more harshly.
Indeed one may see with what a wonderful love for the faithful he is always inflamed, as one finds
proof of it in all his writings. To the Romans he says: I desire to see you, and I have often planned to come
to you, and if by any means at last I may succeed in reaching you (Rom 1:11.13.10). To the Galatians he
says: My little children, with whom I am again in labor (Gal 4:19); to the Ephesians: For this cause I bend
my knees on your behalf (Ep 3:14); and to the Thessalonians: What is my hope and my joy and my crown of
glory? Is it not yourselves? (1 Th 2:19) For he used to say that he carried them about in his heart and in his
chains.
Again he writes to the Colossians: I want you to know how greatly I strive for you and for all who have
not seen my face (Col 2:1.2); and to the Thessalonians: Like a nurse taking care of her children, being
desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the Gospel but also our own selves (1 Th 2:7.8).
So too he says: You are not restricted by us (2 Cor 6:12). And so Paul does not merely say that he loves
them but also they love him, so that in this way he may draw them to him. Indeed to the Corinthians he
bears witness of this love when he says: Titus came, telling us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal
for me (2 Cor 7:6.7).

R ESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 13:4.6; Proverbs 10:12

Love is patient, love is kind, never jealous or conceited.
— Love never takes pleasure in other people’s sins but rejoices in the truth.
Hatred provokes disputes, but love covers all offenses.
— Love never takes pleasure in other people’s sins but rejoices in the truth.

EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 7:2-16

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 7:9-10
Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation,
— but worldly grief produces death.
You felt godly grief; thus you suffered no loss from us.
— But worldly grief produces death.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(Hom. 14,1-2: PG 61, 497-499)
I rejoice exceedingly in all my tribulations
Again Paul turns to speak of love, softening the harshness of his rebuke. For after convicting and
reproaching them for not loving him as he had loved them, breaking away from his love and attaching
themselves to troublemakers, he again takes the edge off the reproach by saying: Open your hearts to us,
that is, love us (2 Cor 7:2). He asks for a favor which will be no burden to them but will be more profitable
to the giver than to the receiver. And he did not use the word “love” but said, more appealingly: Open your
hearts to us.
Who, he said, has cast us out of your minds, thrust us from your hearts? How is it that you feel
constraint with us? For, since he has said earlier: You are restricted in your own affection (2 Cor 6:12), he
now declares himself more openly and says: Open your hearts to us, thus once more drawing them toward
him. For nothing so much winds love as the knowledge that one’s lover desires most of all to be himself
loved.
For I said before, he tells them, that you are in our hearts to die together or live together (2 Cor 7:3).
This is love at its height, that even though in disfavor, he wishes both to die and to live with them. For you
are in our hearts, not just somehow or other, but in the way I have said. It is possible to love and yet draw
back when danger threatens; but my love is not like that.
I am filled with consolation (2 Cor 7:4). What consolation? What comes from you because you, being
changed for the better, have consoled me by what you have done. It is natural for a lover both to complain
that he is not loved in return and to fear that he may cause distress by complaining too much. Therefore, he
says: I am filled with consolation, I rejoice exceedingly.
It is as if he said, I was much grieved on your account, but you have made it up for me in full measure
and given me comfort; for you have not only removed the cause for any grief but filled me with a richer
joy.
Then he shows the greatness of that joy by saying not only I rejoice exceedingly but also the words
which follow: in all my tribulations. So great, he says, was the delight that you gave me that it was not even
dimmed by so much tribulation, but overcame by its strength and keenness all those sorrows which had
invaded my heart, and took away from me all awareness of them.

R ESPONSORY 2 Corinthians 12:12.15

I performed among you works that prove my apostleship,
—in all patience with signs, wonders and miracles.
I will gladly spend myself and be spent for you.
—in all patience with signs, wonders and miracles.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 8:1-24

A collection for the brothers in Jerusalem

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 8:9; Ph 2:7
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though rich, for your sake became poor.
— So that by his poverty you might become rich.
He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.
— So that by his poverty you might become rich.

S ECOND R EADING
From a sermon by Saint Caesarius of Arles, bishop
(Sermo 25, 1: CCl 103, 111-112)
Divine and human mercy
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (Mt 5:7). My brothers and sisters, sweet is the
thought of mercy, but even more so is mercy itself. It is what all men hope for, but unfortunately, not what
all men deserve. For while all men wish to receive it, only a few are willing to give it.
How can a man ask for himself what he refuses to give to another? If he expects to receive any mercy
in heaven, he should give mercy on earth. Do we all desire to receive mercy? Let us make mercy our
patroness now, and she will free us in the world to come. Yes, there is mercy in heaven, but the road to is
paved by our merciful acts on earth. As Scripture says: Lord, your mercy is in heaven (cf. Ps 35:6).
There is, therefore, an earthly as well as heavenly mercy, that is to say, a human and divine mercy.
Human mercy has compassion on the miseries of the poor. Divine mercy grants forgiveness of sins.
Whatever human mercy bestows here on earth, divine mercy will return to us in our homeland. In this life
God feel scold and hunger in all who are stricken with poverty; for, remember, he once said: What you have
done to the least of my brothers you have done to me (Mt 25:40). Yes, God who sees fit to give his mercy
in heaven wishes it to be a reality here on earth.
What kind of people are we? When God gives, we wish to receive, but when he begs, we refuse to
give. Remember, it was Christ who said: I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat (Mt 25:42). When
the poor are starving, Christ too hungers. Do not neglect to improve the unhappy conditions of the poor, if
you wish to ensure that your own sins be forgiven you. Christ hungers now, my brethren; it is he who
deigns to hungers and thirst in the persons of the poor. And what he will return in heaven tomorrow is what
he receives here on earth today.
What do you wish for, what do you pray for, my dear brothers and sisters, when you come to church?
Is it mercy? How can it be anything else? Show mercy, then, while you are on earth, and mercy will be
shown to you in heaven. A poor person asks you for something; you ask God for something. He begs for a
morsel of food; you beg for eternal life. Give to the beggar so that you may merit to receive from Christ.
For he it is who says: Give and it will be given you (Lk 6:38). It baffles me that you have the impudence to
ask for what you do not want to give. Give when you come to church. Give to the poor. Give them
whatever your resources will allow.

R ESPONSORY Luke 6:36.37-38; Matthew 5:7

Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate.
—Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give to others and you will receive.
Blessed are the merciful; they shall obtain mercy.
—Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give to others and you will receive.

TUESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 9:1-15

You are rich in your generosity

R ESPONSORY Lk 6:38; 2 Co 9:7
Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over into your
lap.
— For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion.
— For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily by Saint Basil the Great, bishop
(Hom. 3, 6)
Sow for yourselves with an eye to righteousness
Imitate the earth; produce fruit like her, so that you will not seem inferior to inanimate matter. For the
earth has nourished her crops with no intention of enjoying them herself but to serve you. But whatever
fruit of charity you may produce, you harvest for yourself, for the grace and reward of good works return to
those who do them. You have given to the hungry, and what you gave becomes yours, and it returns to you
with interest. As the corn that falls upon the earth yields a reward to the sower, so in the same way the
bread given to a hungry man will bring you much reward hereafter. Therefore in your case, let the end of
agriculture be the beginning of the heavenly sowing: Sow for yourselves with an eye to righteousness (Ho
10:12).
Now you are going to leave your money behind you here whether you like it or not, but on the other
hand you will be taking with you to the Lord the credit obtained for your good works. All who are standing
round the judge of all men will hail you helper and generous benefactor and will use of you all the names
that imply kindness and humanity. Don’t you see those men who lavish their wealth on theatrical shows or
boxing and wrestling contests, or mimes or shows where men fight with wild beasts, things one would
disdain even to look at, and all for short-lived honors, for the shouts and applause of the people? And will
you be stingy in spending money when so great a glory will be your reward? God will give you his
approval, the angels will join in praising you, all those who have lived since the foundation of the world
will proclaim you blessed; glory eternal, a crown of righteousness, a heavenly kingdom you will receive as
a reward of corruptible things rightly dispensed. You pay no heed to all this, you who despise these good
things which are stored up in hope because you are so wrapped up in the things of the present. Come then,
scatter abroad your riches, be liberal and magnanimous in giving to the poor. Let it be said of you too: He
has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever (Ps 111:9).
How deeply grateful you ought to be to the generous benefactor, how cheerful you should show
yourself, how glad on account of the honor which is being conferred on you, that you will not keep
knocking at the doors of others but the others will stand at yours. Now indeed you show yourself sullen and
access to you is scarcely possible while you refuse to meet anyone for fear you might be compelled to let
even a scrap slip through your fingers. You only know one phrase: ‘I am a poor man, I have nothing to
give’. Yes, you really are a poor man, without riches of any sort; poor in affection, poor in humanity, poor
in faith in God, poor in eternal hope.

R ESPONSORY Isaiah 58:7.8

Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
—Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your vindication shall go before you.
Clothe the naked when you see them,and not turning your back on your own.
—Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your vindication shall go before you.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 10:1—11:6

Paul’s apology
R ESPONSORY 2 Co 10:3-4; Ep 6:16-17
Though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war,
— for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly.
Take the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
— For the weapons of our warfare are not worldly.

S ECOND R EADING
From a catechetical instruction by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop
(Cat. 18, 23-25: PG 33,1043-1047)
The Church as the assembly of the people of God
The Church is called Catholic or universal because it has spread throughout the entire world, from one
end of the earth to the other. Again, it is called Catholic because it teaches fully and unfailingly all the
doctrines which ought to be brought to men’s knowledge, whether concerned with visible or invisible
things, with the realities of heaven or the things of earth. Another reason for the name Catholic is that the
Church brings under religious obedience all classes of men, rulers and subjects, learned and unlettered.
Finally, it deserves the title Catholic because it heals and cures unrestrictedly every type of sin that can be
committed in soul or in body, and because it possesses within itself every kind of virtue that can be named,
whether exercised in actions or in words or in some kind of spiritual charism.
It is most aptly called a church, which means an “assembly of those called out,” because it “calls out”
all men and gathers them together, just as the Lord says in Leviticus: Assemble all the congregation at the
door of the tent of meeting (cf. Lv 8:3). It is worth noting also that the word “assemble” is used for the first
time in the Scriptures at this moment when the Lord appoints Aaron high priest. So in Deuteronomy God
says to Moses: Assemble the people before me and let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear
me (cf. Dt 4:10). There is a further mention of the assembly in the passage about the tablets of the Law:
And on them were written all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst
of the fire, on the day of the assembly (cf. Dt 10:4); it is as though he had said, even more clearly, “on the
day when you were called out by God and gathered together.” So too the psalmist sang: I will give thanks to
you in the great assembly, O Lord; in the mighty throng I will praise you (Ps 34:18).
Long ago the psalmist sang: Bless God in the assembly; bless the Lord, you who are Israel’s sons (Ps
67:27). But now the Savior has built a second holy assembly, our Christian Church, from the Gentiles. It
was of this that he spoke to Peter: On this rock I will build by Church, and the powers of death shall not
prevail against it (Mt 16:18).
Now that the single Church which was in Judea has been rejected, the churches of Christ are already
multiplying throughout the world, and of them it is said in the psalms: Sing a new song to the Lord, let his
praise be sung in the assembly of the saints (Ps 149:1). Taking up the same theme the prophet says to the
Jews: I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts; and immediately he adds: For from the rising of the
sun to its setting my name is glorified among the nations (Ml 1:10.11). Of this holy Catholic Church Paul
writes to Timothy: That you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the
Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth (1 Tm 3:14).
R ESPONSORY 1 Peter 2:9-10
You are a chosen race, a holy nation, a people God has claimed as his own.
—Proclaim the marvelous works of him who has called us out of darkness into his own wonderful light.
Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God.
—Proclaim the marvelous works of him who has called us out of darkness into his own wonderful light.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 11:7-29

R ESPONSORY Ga 1:11-12; 2 Co 11:10,7

The gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel.
— For I did not receive it from man, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
As the truth of Christ is in me, I preached God’s gospel.
— For I did not receive it from man, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

S ECOND R EADING
From a catechetical instruction by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop
(Cat. 18, 26-29: PG 33, 1047-1050)
The Church is the bride of Christ
The Catholic Church is the distinctive name of this holy Church which is the mother of us all. She is
the bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, for Scripture says: Christ loved the
Church and gave himself up for her (Ep 5:25). She is the type and she bears the image of the Jerusalem
above that is free and is the mother of us all (cf. Gal 4:26), that Jerusalem which once was barren but now
has many children.
The first assembly, that is, the assembly of Israel, was rejected, and now in the second, that is, in the
Catholic Church, God has appointed first, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers then workers of
miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators and speakers in various kinds of tongues (1 Cor 12:28), as
Paul says; and together with these is found every sort of virtue – wisdom and understanding, self-control
and justice, mercy and kindness, and invincible patience in persecution. With the weapons of righteousness
in the right hand and in the left, in glory and dishonor (2 Cor 6:7-8), this Church in earlier days, when
persecution and afflictions abounded, crowned her holy martyrs with the varied and many-flowered
wreaths of endurance. But now when God has favored us with times of peace, she receives her due honor
from kings and men of high station, and from every condition and race of mankind. And while the rulers of
the different nations have limits to their sovereignty, the holy Catholic Church alone has a power without
boundaries throughout the entire world. For, as Scripture says: God has made peace her border (cf. Ps
147:14).
Instructed in this holy Catholic Church and bearing ourselves honorably, we shall gain the kingdom of
heaven and inherit eternal life. For the sake of enjoying this at the Lord’s hands, we endure all things. The
goal set before us is no trifling one; we are striving for eternal life. In the Creed, therefore, after professing
our faith “in the resurrection of the body, that is, of the dead, which I have already discussed, we are taught
to believe “in life everlasting,” and for this as Christians we are struggling.
Now real and true life is none other than the Father, who is the fountain of life and who pours forth his
heavenly gifts on all creatures through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and the good things of eternal life are
faithfully promised to us men also, because of his love for us.

R ESPONSORY Psalm 32:12

Praiseworthy is that people to whom the Lord said in blessing:
—You, O Israel, are the work of my hands; you are my own possession.
Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own.
—You, O Israel, are the work of my hands; you are my own possession.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 11:30—12:13
When I am weak, it is then that I am strong

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 12:9, 4:7

I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me;
— for his power is made perfect in weakness.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that transcendent power belongs to God.
— For his power is made perfect in weakness.

S ECOND R EADING
From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Disc. 247, 5-6)
Not I alone, but the grace of God that is with me
Pay attention to the apostle Paul, reflect on his words: For I am already being poured out as a libation,
and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will
award to me on that day (2 Tm 4:6-8).
He who has given me what was not due to me, will not deny me what is due to me. The just judge will
give the crown, he will give it: he has in fact one to whom to give it I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith he will give the crown for these merits, and as I have said, he who
has given what is not due will not deny what is due. What does not due signify? Let us listen to Paul
himself while he confesses and praises the giver of the grace confessing his own life.
In precedence, he says, I was a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man (1 Tm 1:13). And
therefore, was it due to you to be an apostle? What was due to a blasphemer, to a persecutor, to a violent
man? What, if not eternal damnation? And in its place what have you received? I was shown mercy because
I acted in ignorance and unbelief (1 Tm 1:13). This is the mercy that God grants, without it being due.
Listen again to another affirmation that he makes elsewhere: I am not worthy, to call myself an apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God (1 Cor 15:9). It is really clear, apostle, that you were not worthy.
And how did you become worthy? For what reason are you now worthy? But through the grace of God I
am what I am (1 Cor 15:10). It was my fault that I was what I was, but through the grace of God I am what
I am. Through the grace of God, I say, I am what I am, and his grace in me has not been in vain; in fact I
have toiled more than them (1 Cor 15:10).
Have you answered, therefore, to the grace of God? You have received, but have you given back? Pay
careful attention, Paul, to what you have said. I pay attention, he says: not I, however, but the grace of God
which is with me (1 Cor 15:10). And therefore, will God the just judge, deny to this apostle, who toils, who
runs a good race, who sets out towards the end, who keeps the faith, the reward due to him, after having
given him a grace that was not due to him?
You have contested that there exists another law in the body which opposes your convictions, and that
drags you as a slave under the law of sin, and that you perceive it in every part of your body. How to carry
of a victory, without taking account of what follows? What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from
this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:24-25) The battle, the toil,
the perseverance, the victory comes to you from here. Observe this man who fights: “Who will separate us
from the love of Christ? Perhaps the tribulations, the anguish, the persecutions, hunger, nakedness; danger,
the sword? Exactly as it is written: For your sake we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to
be slaughtered (Rom 8: 35-36). How much weakness, toil, misery, dangers, temptations!
And from where does the victory come of the one who fights? Listen to what follows: But in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom 8:37). Have you run fully your way:
under the guidance, the command, with the help of whom? What do you affirm at this point? You have
been faithful, it is true. But above all, of what faithfulness are we dealing with? Of what you have
established by yourself?
What you have affirmed is false: Judge yourselves each one in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you (Rom 12:3). Is it not you who turn to some of your companions in battle, companions in
toil and in the race in the stadium of this life, and say to them: For it has been granted to you on behalf of
Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him (Ph 1:29)? This, to believe in Christ and to
suffer for him: these are the things given in gift.

R ESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 2:3-4; 5:1

I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,and my message and my proclamation were not
with persuasive words of wisdom,
—so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.
—so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians 12:14—13:13
The coming visit of Paul

R ESPONSORY 2 Co 13:11; Ph 4:7

Mend your ways, agree with one another, live in peace,
— and the God of love and peace will be with you.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
—And the God of love and peace will be with you.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Let. 265, 7-8)
The necessity of daily prayer
Men must do penance before baptism for their preceding sins, in order to prepare themselves the better
before beingbaptized, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, when Peter says to the Jews: Repent and
be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven (Act. 2:38)
They must also do penance after baptism if they have sinned in such a way as to receive the
excommunication, in order to be then able to merit reconciliation, like all those who in the proper sense are
called “penitents” in all the Churches. Of this type of penance the apostle Paul speaks when he says: I am
afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who
have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have
indulged (2 Cor 12: 20-21).
And these things he wrote exactly for those who were already baptised.
There is finally a type of penance almost everyday, accomplished by the good and humble faithful,
when we beat our breasts and say: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors (Mt 6:12). And we do
not ask that we be forgiven the sins which we have no doubt have been forgiven in baptism, but those small
and true, but frequent ones which infiltrate in the human weakness. If they were all debited to us, they
would weigh us down and oppress us like a serious sin. What difference in fact is there if the ship is
shipwrecked because it is ripped open and submerged by one unique enormous wave, or, because the water,
seeping in little by little into the bottom and negligently ignored or disregarded, fills up and sinks the ship?
For this reason fasting, almsgiving, prayers act as sentries. Praying: Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors we declare that we have something for which we need to be forgiven; and humiliating our
hearts with such words, let us not cease to do daily penance in some way.

R ESPONSORY Baruch 3:2; Psalm 84:5

Let us repent from the evil we have done in ignorance; let us convert before it is too late when death comes.
—Hear, O Lord, for you are a God of mercy; and have mercy on us, who have sinned against you:
Restore us once more, God our savior; abandon your wrath against us.
—Hear, O Lord, for you are a God of mercy; and have mercy on us, who have sinned against you:

NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 1:1-12
The Gospel preached by Paul
R ESPONSORY Ga 1:3-4,10
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
— who gave himself for our sins.
If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.
— Who gave himself for our sins.

S ECOND R EADING
From an explanation of Paul’s letter to the Galatians by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Praefatio: PL 35, 2105-2107)
Let us understand the workings of God’s grace
Paul writes to the Galatians to make them understand that by God’s grace they are no longer under the
law. When the Gospel was preached to them, there were some among them of Jewish origin known as
circumcisers – though they called themselves Christians – who did not grasp the gift they had received.
They still wanted to be under the burden of the law. Now God had imposed that burden on those who were
slaves to sin and not on servants of justice. That is to say, God had given a just law to unjust men in order
to show them their sin, not to take it away. For sin is taken away only by the gift of faith that works through
love. The Galatians had already received this gift, but the circumcisers claimed that the Gospel would not
save them unless they underwent circumcision and were willing to observe also the other traditional Jewish
rites.
The Galatians, therefore, began to question Paul’s preaching of the Gospel because he did not require
Gentiles to follow Jewish observances as other apostles had done. Even Peter had yielded to the
scandalized protests of the circumcisers. He pretended to believe that the Gospel would not save the
Gentiles unless they fulfilled the burden of the law. But Paul recalled him from such dissimulation, as is
shown in this very same letter. A similar issue arises in Paul’s letter to the Romans, but with an evident
difference. Through his letter to them Paul was able to resolve the strife and controversy that had developed
between the Jewish and Gentile converts.
In the present letter Paul is writing to persons who were profoundly influenced and disturbed by the
circumcisers. The Galatians had begun to believe them and to think that Paul had not preached rightly,
since he had not ordered them to be circumcised. And so the Apostle begins by saying: I am amazed that
you are so quickly deserting him who called you to the glory of Christ, and turning to another gospel (Ga
1:6).
After this there comes a brief introduction to the point at issue. But remember in the very opening of
the letter Paul had said that he was an apostle not from men nor by any man (Ga 1:1), a statement that does
not appear in any other letter of his. He is making it quite clear that the circumcisers, for their part, are not
from God but from men, and that his authority in preaching the Gospel must be considered equal to that of
the other apostles. For he was called to be an apostle not from men nor by any man, but through God the
Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

R ESPONSORY Galatians 3:24-25.23

The law was our guardian until Christ came and made it possible for us to be reconciled to God by faith.
—And now that the time of faith has come, we are no under that guardian no longer.
Before the time of faith came, the law kept us strictly in check, watching us closely until faith should be
revealed.
—And now that the time of faith has come, we are no under that guardian no longer.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 1:13—2:10
Paul’s vocation
R ESPONSORY 1 Co 15:10; Ga 2:8
By the grace of God I am what I am,
— and his grace toward me was not in vain.
He who worked through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through me also,
for the mission to the Gentiles.
— And his grace toward me was not in vain.

S ECOND R EADING
From a work by Tertullian, priest
(Cc. 20, 7—22,9)
The apostles preached what Christ taught
Everything must be characterized according to its origin. For this all the Churches, no matter how
numerous and great, are none other than one unique Church derived from that early apostolic Church, from
which all proceed. This unity is attested by the fact that they communicate peace reciprocally, they
exchange the name of brothers, they welcome one another with hospitality. Such a type of life is not
governed by any other law than that of the unique tradition of the same sacrament. From all this, therefore,
here is the prescription that we receive: since the Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostles to preach, we must not
listen to other preachers other than those instituted by Christ. Since to no one else the Son has revealed
himself, except the apostles whom he sent to preach, precisely what he had revealed. But what was the
theme of their preaching, in other words, what did Christ reveal to them? I affirm that it is not possible to
know this in any other way other than through those same Churches which the apostles have personally
founded and which they themselves instituted, either orally, or later by letter. As things are like this, it is
clear that every doctrine in accord with that of those Churches, origin and source of faith, must be
considered as true, since it evidently contains what the Churches have received from the apostles, the
apostles from Christ, Christ from God. On the contrary, every doctrine in contradiction with the truth of the
Churches of the apostles of Christ and of God, must beforehand be judged as coming from lies. It remains
therefore to show that this doctrine of ours, of which we have earlier formulated the rules, proceeds from
the apostolic tradition and that, for the same reason, the others come from lies.
We are in communion with the apostolic Churches, because our doctrine does not differ in anything
from theirs: this is the sign of the truth. The proof is so simple, that once it has been displayed it does not
allow any objections. Let us make the hypothesis that it has not been displayed, and let us permit our
adversaries to produce the arguments with which they think that they can thwart this affirmation. They are
used to say that the apostles did not know everything; then, pushed by the same spirit of madness, they
contradict themselves and they declare that the apostles yes, have known everything, but did not hand down
everything to us. In both cases a reprimand is implied to Christ, for having sent apostles who were either
little educated or too astute.
Which sensible man can believe that those whom Christ had given us as masters, and who had been his
companions, his disciples, his intimate friends, could have ignored anything? Christ enlightened them
privately saying that to them, and not to others, was revealed the mysteries of the kingdom of God (cf. Mt
13: 11). Could Peter ignore anything, “the rock” on which the Church was to be built, he who received the
keys of the kingdom of heaven with the power to bind and to loose in heaven and on earth? And could John
ignore anything, he, the beloved of the Lord, who rested on his breast, the only one to whom the Lord had
indicated Judas as the traitor; and whom he handed over to Mary as a son in his place? Did those disciples
on the road to Emmaus to whom the Lord after his resurrection deigned to explain all the Scriptures, also
ignore anything?
It is true that one day he had said: There are many things that I still have to tell you, but for the moment
you are not capable of carrying the weight. He added nevertheless: However when the Spirit of truth will
come, he will guide you to the whole truth (Jn 16:12-13). He shows in this way that those to whom he had
promised the possession of the whole truth through the work of the Spirit of truth, did not ignore anything.
A promise that he maintained, given that the Acts of the Apostles attests the descent of the Holy Spirit.

R ESPONSORY 2 Timothy 1:13.14; Deuteronomy 13:1

Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
—Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
Every command that I enjoin on you, you shall be careful to observe, neither adding to it nor subtracting
from it.
—Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

TUESDAY

F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 2:11—3:14
The just will live by faith
R ESPONSORY Ga 2:16,21
A man is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.
— We have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by
works of the law.
If justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.
— We have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by
works of the law.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on Genesis by Origen, priest
(Hom. 8, 6,8,9: PG 12,206-209)
The sacrifice of Abraham
Abraham took wood for the burnt offering and place it upon Isaac his son, and he took fire and a
sword in his hands, and together they went off (Gn 22:6). Isaac himself carried the wood for his own
holocaust: this is a figure of Christ. For he bore the burden of the cross, and yet to carry the wood for the
holocaust is really the duty of the priest. He is then both victim and priest. This is the meaning of the
expression: together they went off. For when Abraham, who was to perform the sacrifice, carried the fire
and the knife, Isaac did not walk behind him, but with him. In this way he showed that he exercised the
priesthood equally with Abraham.
What happens after this? Isaac said to Abraham his father: Father (Gn 22:7). This plea from the son
was at that instant the voice of temptation. For do you not think the voice of the son who was about to be
sacrificed struck a responsive chord in the heart of the father? Although Abraham did not waver because of
his faith, he responded with a voice full of affection and asked: What is it, my son? Isaac answered him:
Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for holocaust? And Abraham replied: God will
provide for himself a sheep for the holocaust, my son (Gn 22:7-8).
The careful yet loving response of Abraham moves me greatly. I do not know what he saw in spirit,
because he did not speak of the present but of the future: God will provide for himself a sheep. His reply
concerns the future, yet his son inquires about the present. Indeed, the Lord himself provided a sheep for
himself in Christ.
Abraham extended his hand to take the sword and slay his son, and the angel of the Lord called to him
from heaven and said: Abraham, Abraham. And he responded: Here I am. And the angel said: Do not put
your hand upon the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God (Gn 22:10-12). Compare
these words to those of the Apostle when he speaks of God: He did not spare his own Son but gave him up
for us all (Rom 8:32). God emulates man with magnificent generosity. Abraham offered to God his mortal
son who did not die, and God gave up his immortal Son who died for all of us.
And Abraham, looking about him, saw a ram caught by the horns in a bush (Gn 22:13). We said before
that Isaac is a type of Christ. Yet this also seems true of the ram. To understand how both are figures of
Christ – Isaac who was not slain and the ram who was – is well worth of our inquiry.
Christ is the Word of God, but the Word became flesh (Jn 1:14). Christ therefore suffered and died, but
in the flesh. In this respect, the ram is the type, just as John said: Behold the lamb of God, behold him who
takes away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29). The Word, however, remained incorruptible. This is Christ
according to the spirit, and Isaac is the type. Therefore, Christ himself is both victim and priest according to
the spirit. For he offers the victim to the Father according to the flesh, and he is himself offered on the altar
of the cross.

R ESPONSORY See John 19:16; Genesis 22:6

They took charge of Jesus and led him away;
—and carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the place of the skull.
Abraham took up the wood for the sacrifice and put it on the shoulders of Isaac, his son.
—and carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the place of the skull.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 3:15—4:7
The use of the law
R ESPONSORY Ga 3:27-28; Ep 4:24
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor
Greek;
— for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
— For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter by Saint Ambrose, bishop
(Let. 35, 4-6.13)
We are heirs of God, co-heirs of Christ
Those who, as the Apostle says, through the Spirit put to death the misdeeds of the body, will live. Let
no one wonder that he lives, because he who has the Spirit of God becomes the son of God. He is the son of
God, and consequently does not receive a spirit of slaves, but a spirit of adopted sons. For this the Holy
Spirit attests to our spirit that we are children of God (cf. Rom 8:13-16). And the witness of the Spirit
consists in the fact that it is exactly he who cries in our hearts: Abba, Father! as it is written in the letter to
the Galatians (Gal 4:6). This testimony then, that we are children of God is truly great: because we are heirs
of God and co-heirs of Christ (Rom 8:17). Co-heir of Christ is he who participates in his glory: but only the
one who suffering, participates in his sufferings participates also in his glory.
And in order to exhort us to embrace suffering, he adds that all what we suffer is inferior and not
comparable to the reward reserved for the one who bears such suffering. Great in fact will be the
merchandise of the future goods that will be revealed in us when, re-formed in the image of God, we will
deserve to contemplate his glory face to face.
In order to exalt then the greatness of the future revelation, he affirms that the creation also, now
subjected to the transience not by its will, but in the hope of being freed, attends with impatience the
revelation of the sons of God. It in fact hopes to receive from Christ the grace necessary for its function,
when it also will be freed from the slavery of corruption and admitted to the freedom of the glory of the
sons of God (cf. Rom 8:19-21). Then there will be a unique freedom: that of the creation and that of the
sons of God, when their glory will be manifested.
In the meantime, while that manifestation is procrastinated, all the creation groans, yearning for the
glory of our redemption and adoption. It yearns right now to bring to the light that spirit of salvation and
desires to be freed from the service of transience. The concept is clear. The faithful, who possess the first
fruits of the Spirit, groan interiorly waiting for the adoption as sons, that is the redemption of the entire
mystical body. It will be realised when, like a unique Son of God by adoption, they will contemplate that
highest and eternal good face to face. The adoption as sons is now already in the Church of the Lord when
the Spirit cries: Abba, Father! as it is read in the letter to the Galatians (Gal 4:6). But it will be perfect
when all those who deserve to see the face of God will rise incorruptible, splendid and glorious. Then the
human creature will be able to call itself truly free. Therefore the Apostle gives glory saying: In hope we
have been saved (Rom 8:24). Hope in fact saves us, as the faith saves us, of which it is said: Your faith has
saved you (Lk 18:42).

R ESPONSORY Romans 8:17; 5:9

We are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
—if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Since we are now justified by his blood, We will be saved through him from the wrath.
—if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 4:8-31
The freedom in the new covenant
R ESPONSORY Ga 4:28,31—5:1; 2 Co 3:17
We, brothers, are children of the promise like Isaac. So we are not children of the slave but of
the free woman.
— For freedom Christ has set us free.
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit is, there is freedom.
— For freedom Christ has set us free.

S ECOND R EADING
From a commentary on the letter to the Galatians by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Nn. 37,38)
Till Christ is formed in you
So the Apostle says: Be as I am (Gal 4:12) who, though being born a Jew, have now learnt by spiritual
insight to treat all carnal matters with contempt; for I also have become like you (Gal 4:12). After saying
that, he very properly and becomingly added a reminder of his love for them, fearing no doubt that they
might otherwise begin to suspect him of having turned against them. So he says: Brethren, I beseech you,
you did me no wrong (cf. Gal 4:12) as if he would prevent them from thinking he wanted to do them
wrong.
He even calls them my little children, so that they would imitate him as they would a father. With
whom I am again in travail he adds, until Christ be formed in you! (Gal 4:19) In saying this, he seems to be
speaking more in the person of the Church their mother, for in another place he says, I was a babe among
you, like a nurse taking care of her children (1 Th 2:7).
Now Christ is formed in a believer through faith implanted in his inmost soul. Such a one, gentle and
lowly of heart, is summoned to the freedom of grace, and he does not boast of the merit of works that are of
no value. But from the grace itself there is a beginning of merit, so that Christ who said: As you did it to one
of the least of my brethren, you did it to me (Mt 25:40), can call him the least bit of himself. Christ, then, is
formed in him who accepts his form; and he receives the form of Christ who cleaves to Christ with spiritual
love.
 The result is that through this imitating he becomes, in the measure permitted to him, the same as
Christ whom he imitates. He who says he abides in him says John, ought to walk in the same way as he
walked (1 Jn 2:6).
But since human beings are conceived by their mothers in order to be formed and once they are formed
are brought to birth through the pangs of labour, we can ask what is meant by the words, with whom I am
again in travail until Christ be formed in you! (Gal 4:19) We can take ‘travail’ to mean the anxious care
with which he was in labor so that they might be born in Christ; and now again he is in travail because of
the danger he sees them in of being led astray. The anxiety of such concern about them, which leads him to
say that he is in some way in travail can endure to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so
that they may no longer be carried about with every wind of doctrine (Ep 4:13,14).
Hence, it is not in reference to the beginnings of faith by which they were born, but concerning the
strengthening and perfecting of faith that he says, “with whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in
you”. Elsewhere he commends this sort of travail in other words when he says: There is the daily pressure
on me of anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall and I am not
indignant? (2 Cor 11:28-29).

R ESPONSORY Ephesians 4:15; Proverbs 4:18

Living the truth in love,
—we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.
The path of the just is like shining light, that grows in brilliance till perfect day.
—we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 5:1-25
For freedom, Christ set us free

R ESPONSORY Ga 5:18,22,25
If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.
—The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
— The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace.
S ECOND R EADING
From a homily by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, bishop
(Oratio 7, 23-24: PG 35, 786-787)
That we may all be made one in Christ
Could I but mortify my own earthbound members! Could I but wear them all out in the spirit,
advancing along that narrow path in which few walk, not the broad and easy road! For assuredly it is a
great and resplendent future that awaits us, and the hope of it is beyond our deserving: What is man, that
you should bear him in mind? (Jb 7:17)What indeed is this new mystery in which I am involved? I am at
once small and great, lowly and exalted, mortal and immortal, a sojourner on earth and a citizen of heaven.
Under the one aspect my place is with this world here below, under the other it is with God; on the one
hand with the flesh, on the other with the spirit. My destiny is to be buried with Christ, with Christ to rise
again, to Christ’s coheir, to become God’s son, nay God’s self: see to what point the developing argument
has advanced us!
I could almost be grateful for the calamity that has led me to think along these lines; it has but
increased my longing to be risen and gone hence. This is what that great mystery means for us, this is what
is willed of us by God, who for our sake assumed man’s nature and became poor that he might set our
fallen humanity upright, rescue his image from defacement, and fashion us anew: that we may all be made
one in Christ (Ga 3:28), who becomes in each and all of us, completely, all that he is in himself, so that
henceforth we are no longer male and female (Gal 3:28), barbarian and Scythian, slave and freeman (Col
3:11), for these terms betoken only fleshly characteristics, but wear about us only the sign-manual of God,
by whom and for whom we were created, so plainly stamped with his image as to identifiable from his
likeness alone.
Ah, could we but be what we hope to be according to the great generosity of our bountiful God, who
asks for little but lavishes great gifts, both now and in the world to come, on those who give him their true
and heartfelt love! Then indeed should we, for our love towards him, for our hope in him, bear all things,
endure all things, rendering him our thanks for everything, whether favorable or unfavorable, pleasant or
painful, commending to him our own souls and the souls of those who, better equipped for their journey
along life’s highway, have reached their lodging before us.

R ESPONSORY Ephesians 1:3-4; 2:10

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual
blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
—to be holy and without blemish before him.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance,
—to be holy and without blemish before him.
SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians 5:25—6:18
To be a new creation
R ESPONSORY Ga 6:7-8; Jn 6:63
Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. He who sows in his own flesh will reap
corruption from the flesh.
— He who sows in the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
The Spirit gives life; the flesh is of no avail.
— He who sows in the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on the death of his brother Satyrus by Saint Ambrose, bishop
(Hom. 2, 43-46)
The death of Christ is life for everyone
Let my death be like the death of the just ones, and my end be like theirs (Nm. 23:10). Truly this desire
is in the sense of the prophecy. He in fact who had seen the birth of Christ, saw his triumphal death, saw in
him the perpetual resurrection of men, and therefore did not fear death knowing that he would rise again.
Let my soul not die in sin nor let it be stained by any fault, but let it die in the way of the just in order to
receive his justice. He who dies in Christ becomes a participant of his grace in baptism. Death, thus, does
not cause fear nor is it bitter for the poor, it is not heavier for the rich, it is not unjust for the one who is
advanced in age, it is not a disgrace for the strong, nor is it everlasting for he who has faith, nor is it
unexpected for the one who is wise. How many have consecrated their lives only in view of death! For how
many to live was a punishment, and to die a conquest! We know that often different famous nations have
received freedom from the death of only one person, that an enemy army has been put to flight by the death
of a commander who while alive would not have been able to carry off a victory. Religion had its defense
from the death of the martyrs, faith its increase, the Church its strength. The dead won; the persecutors
were overcome. For this we celebrate the death of many whose lives we do not know. David with a
prophetical enthusiasm exults at this thought: Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful (Ps
115:15). He preferred death to life. The same death of the martyrs is a reward for life. The hate of the
enemies is also dissolved with death.
What more? By the death of only one man the world was redeemed. Christ could have avoided death if
he wanted, but he did not think of fleeing from death as if it was something contemptible, nor would he
have been able to save us in a better way than by dying. His death is the life for all; we are under the sign of
his death: praying we proclaim it, presenting the offering we preach it. His death is sacrament, it is the
solemnity of the year for the whole world. What else can be said of the death of Christ, when we know
through divine testimony that it alone has acquired immortality for us, and it alone has ransomed us?
Therefore we must not fear death, reason of the common salvation, we must not flee it, given that Christ
has not disdained it or fled from it. We must not go against the order of nature. That in fact which is
common to all cannot have exceptions in the individuals.

R ESPONSORY Hebrews 2:10; Luke 24:25

In bringing many children to glory,
—it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make the leader to their
salvation perfect through suffering.
Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
—it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make the leader to their
salvation perfect through suffering.

TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 1:1-11
Greeting and thanksgiving
R ESPONSORY Ph 1:9-10,6
May your love abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
— so that you may approve what is excellent, and be pure and blameless.
I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of
Jesus Christ.
— So that you may approve what is pure and excellent, and be pure and blameless.
S ECOND R EADING
From the beginning of a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
(Cap 1,1—2,3: Funk 1,267-269)
It is by grace that you are saved
From Polycarp and his fellow presbyters to the pilgrim church of God at Philippi: May you have mercy
and peace in abundance from Almighty God and Jesus Christ our Savior.
I rejoice with you greatly in the Lord Jesus Christ because you have assumed the pattern of true love
and have rightly helped on their way those who were in chains. Such chains are becoming to the faithful;
they are the rich crown of the chosen ones of our Lord and God. I am glad, too, that your deep-rooted faith,
proclaimed of old, still abides and continues to bear fruit in the life-giving power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He, for our sins did not refuse to go down to death, and God raised him up after destroying the pains of hell
(cf. Ac 2:24). With a glorious joy that no one can express you believe in Christ without seeing him (1 Pt
1:8). This is the joy in which many wish to share knowing that it is by grace that you are saved and not by
works (cf. Ep 2:8-9), for so God has willed through Jesus Christ.
So prepare yourselves for the struggle, serve the Lord in fear and truth (Ps 2:11). Put aside empty talk
and popular errors; your faith must be in him who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave him
a share in his own glory (cf. 1 Pt 1:21) and a seat at his right hand. To him everything was made subject in
heaven and on earth; all things obey him, who will come as judge of the living and the dead. All who refuse
to believe in him must answer to God for the blood of his Son.
He who raised him from the dead will raise us too if we do his will and keep his commandments,
loving what he loved, refraining from all wrongdoing, fraud, avarice, malice and slander. We must abstain
from false witness, not returning evil for evil, nor curse for curse (1 Pt 3:9), nor blow for blow, nor
denunciation for denunciation. Always remember the words of the Lord who taught: Do not judge and you
will not be judged; forgive and you will be forgiven; be merciful and you find mercy; the amount you
measure out to others will be the amount measured out to you (cf. Mt 7:1; Lk 6:36-38;). Blessed are the
poor and those who suffer persecution, for theirs is the kingdom of God (cf. Mt 5:3.10).

R ESPONSORY See 2 Timothy 1:9; Psalm 113b:1

God has saved us and called us to a life of holiness, not because of anything we had done, but according to
his own design and by his own grace.
—This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your kindness and truth.
—This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 1:12-26
Life is Christ and death is gain
R ESPONSORY Ph 1:20-21
It is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full
courage now as always,
— Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
— Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
(Cap. 3,1—5,2: Funk 1,269-273)
Let us put on the armor of righteousness
It is not out of presumption that I write to you, my brothers, on what righteousness means, but rather
because you asked me to do so. For neither I nor anyone like me can equal the wisdom of the blessed and
glorious Paul. When he was in your city, he fully and courageously taught the men of that time the word of
truth; when he was absent, he wrote you letters. By carefully studying these letters, you can strengthen
yourselves in the faith that has been given to you. This faith is the mother of us all (cf. Ga 4:26), followed
by hope, preceded by love – love of God, of Christ, of our neighbor. Whoever lives within this framework
has fulfilled the commandment of righteousness. For anyone who has love is far from sin.
Now the source of all evil is the desire to possess (1 Tm 6:10). Mindful that we brought nothing into
this world and can bring nothing out of it (1 Tm 6:7), let us put on the armor of righteousness. We must
begin by teaching ourselves how to walk in the commandment of the Lord. Then you should teach your
wives to walk in the faith that has been handed down to them, in love and in chastity. They must love their
husbands with complete fidelity, but they must cherish all others equally, and with self-control; they must
raise their children in the discipline that comes from fear of God (cf. Ep 5:22-24). We must teach widows
to be discreet in all that concerns the faith of the Lord; they must pray without ceasing for all men,
shunning all calumny, gossip, false witness, greed, in a word, every sort of evil. They must bear in mind
that they are God’s sacrificial altar. He sees everything clearly, nothing escapes his vigilance, be it
calculation, thought or some secret desire of the heart (cf. 1 Tm 5:10).
God, as we know, is not mocked (Ga 6:7). Let us walk in a way that is worthy of his commands and his
purposes. Deacons in the same way, must be blameless in the sight of his goodness, for they are servants of
God and of Christ, not of men. They must avoid calumny, hypocritical talk and greed (cf. 1 Tm 3:8-10).
Merciful and diligent, they must control their desires, walking according to the truth of the Lord who
became the servant of all. If we please him in this life, we shall receive the life to come; for he has
promised us that he will raise us form the dead, and that, if we lead lives worthy of him, we shall reign
along with him (2 Tm 2:12). This is what our faith tells us.

R ESPONSORY See Philippians 4:8.9

There are many things that are true, honorable, just and worthy of love.
—If there is anything virtuous, anything worthy of admiration, think of these things above all else.
Put into practice what you have learned and have been taught. Then the God of peace will be with you.
—If there is anything virtuous, anything worthy of admiration, think of these things above all else.

TUESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 1:27—2:11
Exhortation to imitate Christ

R ESPONSORY 1 P 2:24; Heb 2:14, 12:2

Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness.
—That through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil.
We look to Jesus, who endured the cross for the joy that was set before him.
— That through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
(Cap. 6,1—8,2: Funk 1, 273-275)
Jesus has set us a personal example
Presbyters should be sympathetic and merciful to everyone, bringing back those who have wandered,
visiting the sick; they must not neglect widows and orphans, or the poor, ever providing for what is good in
the sight of God and of men (cf. 2 Cor 8:21). They should refrain entirely from anger, human respect and
prejudice; avarice should be wholly alien to them nor should they be rash in believing something said
against another, nor too severe in judging others, since they know that we are all debtors through sin.
If, then, we pray to the Lord to forgive us, we must in turn forgive. For we live under the eye of our
Lord and God and we must all stand before the judgment seat of God, each to give an account of himself
(Rom 14:10.12). Let us then serve God with fear and awe. The Lord’s command is also the command of
the apostles who preached the Gospel to us, to say nothing of the prophets who foretold the Lord’s coming.
Our observance of what is good should be meticulous, avoiding anything that might cause another to
stumble; we must shun false brothers and those who assume the Lord’s name hypocritically and lead the
unwary into error.
For anyone who does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is the antichrist (1 Jn 4:3; 2 Jn 7).
And anyone who refuses to admit the testimony of the cross is of the devil. Whoever perverts the Lord’s
words to suit his own desires and denies that there is a resurrection or a judgment is the firstborn of Satan.
So let us abandon the folly of the masses and their false teaching, and return to the teaching that was
handed down to us from the beginning. We must be serious and sober for prayers (1 Pt 4:7); and in our
prayers let us beg God, who sees everything, not to lead us into temptation (Mt 6:13). As the Lord has said:
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mt 26:41).
So let us persevere in the pledge of righteousness and in our hope, that is, in Christ Jesus. In his mouth
no hint of guilt was discovered; he committed no sin and yet bore our sins in his own body on the tree (1 Pt
2:24.22). Rather, he endured everything for our sake so that we might live in him. Let us then imitate his
constancy; if we should suffer because of his name. Let us give him that glory. For this is the personal
example he has given us, this is the object of our faith.

R ESPONSORY See Romans 12:17; 2 Corinthians 6:3; Acts 24:25.16

We should be concerned with living honorable lives, not only in the sight of God but in the sight of all men.
Let us never give offense to anyone
—so that our ministry may not be blamed.
I trust in God and I strive to keep a clear conscience before God and men.
—so that our ministry may not be blamed.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 2:12-20
Wait for your salvation
R ESPONSORY 2 P 1:10-11; Ep 5:8,11
Be the more zealous to confirm your call and election;
— so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.
Walk as children of light; take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness.
— So there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
(Cap. 9, 1—11,4: Funk 1,275-279)
Let us run our race in faith and righteousness
I ask you all to respond to the call of righteousness and to practice boundless patience. Your own eyes
have seen it only in blessed Ignatius, Zosimus, Rufus, but in others from among you as well, to say nothing
of Paul and the other apostles. Be assured that all these men did not run their race in vain (cf. Ph 2:16). No,
they ran it in faith and in righteousness and are now with the Lord in the place that they have earned, even
as they were once with him in suffering. Their love was not for this present world (2 Tm 4:10); rather, it
was for him who died for our sakes and, on account of us, was raised up again by God.
Be steadfast, then, and follow the Lord’s example, strong and unshaken in faith, loving the community
as you love one another. United in the truth, show the Lord’s own gentleness in your dealings with one
another, and look down on no one. If you can do good, do not put it off, because almsgiving frees one from
death (Tb 4:10). Be subject to one another (Ep 5:21), and make sure that your behavior among the pagans
is beyond reproach (1 Pt 2:12). Thus you will be praised for the good you have done, and the Lord will not
be blasphemed because of you. But woe to that man on whose account the Lord’s name is blasphemed.
Therefore, teach everyone to live soberly, just as you live yourselves.
I am greatly saddened on account of Valens who at one time was presbyter among you; he does not
understand the position to which he was called. So I urge all of you to be chaste and honest, to avoid
avarice and to refrain from every form of evil. If a man cannot control himself in these ways, how can he
teach someone else to do so? If he does not avoid greed, he will be defiled by idolatrous practices and will
be reckoned as one of the pagans who know nothing of the Lord’s judgment. Or, as Paul teaches: Do we
not know that the holy ones will judge the world? (1 Cor 6:2)
However, I have never seen or heard of anything of that sort among you, for whom blessed Paul
labored and whom he commends at the beginning of his letter. For he boasted about you in all the churches
which at that time were the only that had come to know God; we ourselves had not yet come to that
knowledge.
Brother, I am deeply sorry for Valens and for his wife; may the Lord grant them true repentance. As
for yourselves, be self-controlled in this respect. Do not look on such people as enemies (cf. 2 Th 3:15), but
invite them back as frail members who have gone astray, so that the entire body of which you are a part
will be saved. In doing this you are contributing to your own spiritual development.

R ESPONSORY Philippians 2:12-13; John 15:5

In fear and trembling work out your salvation;
—it is God who is working in you so that you both will and do according to his own good purpose.

The Lord says: Without me you can do nothing.

—it is God who is working in you so that you both will and do according to his own good purpose.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 3:1-16
The example of Paul
R ESPONSORY Ph 3:8,10; Rm 6:1
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of faith in Christ Jesus;
— knowing him and the power of his resurrection, and sharing his sufferings.
If we have died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him.
— Knowing him and the power of his resurrection, and sharing his sufferings.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
(Cap. 12,1—14: Funk 1, 279-283)
May Christ build you up in faith and in truth
I am sure that you are well grounded in the scriptures and nothing of their message escapes you. I,
however, have not been so fortunate. As these same Scriptures put it: Be angry and do not sin (Ps 4:5) and
Do not let the sun set on your anger (Ep 4:26). Blessed is the man who bears this in mind, as I am sure you
do.
May God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, build you up in faith and in truth and in great gentleness. May you never know anger, but be patient,
long-suffering, persevering and chaste. May he grant you a place among his saints; and may he give the
same to us along with you, as well as to all on earth who put their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his
Father who has raised him from the dead (Ga 1:1).
Keep all the saints in your prayers. Pray, too, for our rulers, for our leaders, and for all those in power,
even for those who persecute and hate you, and for those who are enemies of the cross. In this way, your
good works will be seen by all men, and you will be perfected in him.
Both you and Ignatius have written me to ask whether anyone going to Syria will deliver your letter as
well as ours. If the opportunity offers itself, I will do it; if I cannot, I will send a representative.
As you request, we have returned to you the letters Ignatius sent us and as many other letters as we
had; they are being enclosed with this letter. You will derive great benefit from them, for they are full of
faith and patience, and great edification in all that refers to our Lord. Send us any certain information you
may possess about Ignatius and his companions.
I am sending this letter to you by Crescens, whom I commended to you when I was present, and do so
again. He has lived blamelessly among us, as I am sure he will among you. When his sister comes to you,
she too will come with our commendation.
May you find protection in the Lord Jesus Christ, and may his grace be with all who are yours. Amen.

R ESPONSORY Hebrews 13:20.21; 2 Maccabees 1:3

May the God of peace give you all that is good so that you may do his will;
—may he accomplish in you all that is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ.
May he give to all of you a heart to worship him and to do his will.
—may he accomplish in you all that is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 3:17—4:9
Remain firm in the Lord
R ESPONSORY Ep 4:17; 1 Th 5:15-18
Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in
the futility of their minds; but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
— For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances;
— for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
S ECOND R EADING
From the beginning of a letter to the Magnesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
(Nn. 1,1—5,2: Funk 1, 191-195)
We should be Christians in deed, as well as in name
Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the church at Magnesia on the Meander, a church blessed with the
grace of God the Father in Christ Jesus, our Savior, in whom I salute you. I send you every good wish in
God the Father and in Jesus Christ.
I was delighted to hear of your love of God, so well-ordered and devout, and so I decided to address
you in the faith of Jesus Christ. Honored as I am with a name of the greatest splendor, though I am still in
chains I sing the praises of the churches, and pray that they be united with the flesh and the spirit of Jesus
Christ, who is our eternal life; a union in faith and love, to which nothing must be preferred; and above all a
union with Jesus and the Father, for if in him we endure all the power of the prince of this world, and
escape unharmed, we shall make our way to God.
I have had the honor of seeing you in the person of Damas your bishop, a man of God, and in the
persons of your worthy presbyters, Bassus and Apollonius, and my fellow-servant, the deacon Zotion; may
I continue to take delight in him for he is obedient to the bishop as to the grace of God, and to the
presbyters as to the law of Jesus Christ.
Now it hardly becomes you to presume on your bishop’s youth, but rather, having regard to the power
of God the Father, to show him every mark of respect. This, I understand, is what your holy presbyters do,
not taking advantage of his youthful condition but deferring to him with the prudence which comes from
God, or rather not to him but to the Father of Jesus Christ, to the bishop of all. So then, for the honor of him
who loves us, it is proper to obey without hypocrisy; for a man does not so much deceive the bishop he can
see as try to deceive the bishop he cannot see. In such a case he has to reckon not with a man, but with God
who knows the secrets of the heart.
We should then really live as Christians and not merely have the name; for many invoke the bishop’s
name but do everything apart from him. Such men, I think, do not have a good conscience, for they do not
assemble lawfully as commanded.
All things have an end, and two things, life and death, are side by side set before us, and each man will
go to his own place. Just as there are two coinages, one of God and the other of the world, each with its
own image, so unbelievers bear the image of this world, and those who have faith with love bear the image
of God the Father through Jesus Christ. Unless we are ready through his power to die in the likeness of his
passion, his life is not in us.

R ESPONSORY 1 Timothy 4:12.16.15

Be example for all believers in speech and conduct, in love, faith and purity.
—In this way you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Ponder these duties and attend to them, so that all may see your progress.
—In this way you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians 4:10-23
Generosity of the Philippians towards Paul
R ESPONSORY Ph 4:12-13; 2 Co 12:10
I know how to be abased and how to abound; I have learned the secret of facing abundance
and hunger.
— I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
For Christ’s sake I am content with weakness, insult, hardship.
— I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Magnesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
(Nn. 6,1—9,2: Funk 1,195-199)
One prayer, one hope in love and in holy joy
In the persons I mentioned, I saw and loved in faith your whole community; and so I urge you to strive
to do all things in the harmony of God. The bishop is to preside as God’s representative, the presbyters are
to perform the rule of the apostolic council, and the deacons, who are so dear to me, are to be entrusted
with the service of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before time began and has now at last manifested
himself to us. Follow the ways of God, and have respect for one another; let no one judge his neighbor as
the world does, but love one another always in Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing among you that could
divide you, but live in accord with the bishop and those who are over you as a sign and a pattern of eternal
life.
The Lord did nothing either of himself or through his apostles without his Father, with whom he is
united; so too, you should undertake nothing without the bishop and the presbyters. Do not attempt to
persuade yourselves that what you do on your own account is right and proper, but when you meet together
there must be one petition, one prayer, one mind, one hope in love and in holy joy, for Jesus Christ is one
and perfect before all else. You must all be quick to come together, as to one temple of God, one altar, to
the one Jesus Christ, who came forth from the one Father, while still remaining one with him, and returned
to him.
Do not be led astray by false doctrines or by old and idle tales. For if we still live by the law, we admit
that we have not received grace. But the holy prophets lived according to Jesus Christ, and that is why they
were persecuted. They were inspired by his grace to bring full conviction to an unbelieving world that there
is one God, manifested now through Jesus Christ his Son, his Word, who came forth from the Father and
was in all things pleasing to the one who sent him.
Those who lived by the ancient customs attained a fresh hope; they no longer observed Saturday, but
Sunday, the Lord’s day, for on that day life arose for us through Christ and through his death. Some deny
this mystery, but through it we have received our faith and because of it we persevere, that we may prove to
be disciples of our only teacher, Jesus Christ. Even the prophets awaited him as their teacher, since they
were his disciples in spirit. That is why Christ, whom they rightly awaited, raised them from the dead when
he appeared. How then can we live without him?

R ESPONSORY 1 Peter 3:8.9; Romans 12:10.11

You should all be of one mind, caring for one another, kind, compassionate and humble;
—this you have been called to do so that you may obtain a blessing as your inheritance.
Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing respect, and serve the Lord.
—this you have been called to do so that you may obtain a blessing as your inheritance.

ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of the prophet Isaiah44:21—45:3
Cyrus frees Israel

R ESPONSORY Is 44:23
Sing, O heavens; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth, mountains and forests!
— For the Lord has done it.
The Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel.
— For the Lord has done it.

S ECOND R EADING
From a letter to the Magnesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
(Nn. 10,1-15: Funk 1,199-203)
You have Christ within you
Let us not be insensible of Christ’s loving kindness. For if he had acted as we do, we would have been
lost indeed. Therefore let us become his disciples and learn to live in the Christian way; those who are
called by any other name are not of God. Cast out the evil leaven that has become old and sour, and replace
it with new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. He must be the salt of your lives, so that none of you may
become corrupt, since it is by your wholesomeness that you will be judged. It is absurd to profess Christ
with the lips and at the same time to practice Judaism; for Christianity did not develop into faith in
Judaism, but Judaism into faith in Christianity. It was in this that men of every tongue believed and were
brought together unto God.
I do not write this to you, my dear friends, because I have heard that any one of you is thus disaffected,
but because though I am a lesser man than yourselves, I would have you all guard against falling into the
snares of false doctrine. Have a firm faith in the reality of the Lord’s birth, and passion and resurrection
which took place when Pontius Pilate was procurator. All these deeds were truly and certainly
accomplished by Jesus Christ, who is our hope; may none of you ever be turned away from him!
May you be my joy in all things, if I am worthy of it. For although I am in chains, I do not deserve to
be compared with any of you who live in freedom. I know that you are not inflated with pride, for you have
Jesus Christ within you. And I know that you blush when I praise you, as Scripture says: The just man is his
own accuser (Pr 18:17). Take care, then, to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and his apostles
so that you may prosper in all your doings (cf. Ps 1:3) both in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in the
Son, and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, along with your most worthy
bishop and his spiritual crown, your presbyters, and with the deacons, who are men of God. Be obedient to
the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostle to Christ and to
the Father and to the Spirit, so that there my be unity in flesh and spirit.
I have exhorted you only briefly, for I am aware that you are filled with God. Remember me in your
prayers, that I may attain to God. And remember the church in Syria, from which I am unworthy to be
called. How I need your united prayer and love in God! Remember, then, the Church in Syria, that it may
be strengthened through your prayers.
The Ephesians at Smyrna, where I write these lines, send their greeting. They have come together here
like yourselves for the glory of God; they have consoled me in every way and so has Polycarp, their bishop.
The other churches, too, greet you for the glory of Jesus Christ. Farewell; may you abide in God’s
harmony, possessing undivided spirit which is Jesus Christ.

R ESPONSORY Ephesians 3:16.17.19; Colossians 2:6.7

God grant that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
—If you are rooted and grounded in love, then you will be filled with the fullness of God.
Live then in Christ Jesus; you must be rooted and built on him, and confirmed in the faith you were taught.
—If you are rooted and grounded in love, then you will be filled with the fullness of God.

MONDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Ezra Ez 1:1-8; 2:68—3:8

R ESPONSORY Is 48:20, 40:1

Declare this with joy; proclaim it forth to the end of the earth:
— The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
— The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!

S ECOND R EADING
From a homily on Ezekiel by Saint Gregory the Great, pope
(Hom. 2 in Ez. 1,5: CCL 142,210-212)
The heavenly Jerusalem is built as a city
For precisely because that vision of inward peace is made up of a community of saints as its citizens,
the heavenly Jerusalem is built as a city (Ps 121:2). Even while, in this earthly life, its citizens are lashed
by whips and subjected to oppression, its stones are being quarried every day.
It is also the city, namely, the holy Church, which is to reign in heaven but is still toiling on earth. It is
to its citizens that Peter says: And you are being built up like living stones (1 Pt 2:5). Paul also says: You
are God’s land, God’s building (1 Cor 3:9). Clearly the city already has its great building here on earth in
the lives of the saints. In a building, of course, one stone supports another, since they are placed one on top
of another, and one supporting another is itself supported by another. So in the same way, in the holy
Church, every member both supports and is supported by the other. For neighbors give each other mutual
support, so that the building of love may rise through them. Hence too Paul’s instruction to us: Bear each
other’s burdens, and in that way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2); and he proclaims the virtue of
this law, saying: It is love which fulfills the law (Rom 13:10).
For if I neglect to support you in the way you live, and you pay little attention to supporting me in
mine, how will the building of love rise among us? He alone who supports the whole fabric of the holy
Church supports us in our good ways and our faults as well. But in a building, as we have said, the
supporting stone is itself supported. For just as I already support the ways of those whose behavior in the
matter of good works is still unformed, so I too am supported by those who have surpassed me in the fear
of the Lord, and yet have supported me, so that I myself should learn to support through being supported.
But they have also been supported by their predecessors.
However the stone placed at the top of the building to finish it off, though supported of course by
others, have no one to support in turn. For those, too, who are born at the Church’s end, that is, at the end of
the world, will certainly be supported by their predecessors, to dispose them to behave in a way that leads
to good works; but when they have none to follow them who could profit by them, they have no more
stones to support for the building of the faithful above them. So for the time being they are supported by us,
and we are supported by others. However it is the foundation that carries the entire weight of the building,
because our Redeemer alone supports the lives of all of us together. As Paul says of him: For no one can
lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid, which is Christ Jesus (1 Cor 3:11). The
foundation supports the stones and is not supported by the stones, because our Redeemer supports us in all
our troubles, but in himself there was no evil demanding support.
Only he who sustains the whole construction of the holy Church can bear our habits and our faults, he
who through the voice of the prophet said to those who still live in evil: I am tired of bearing you (Is 1:14).
The Lord does not get tired working, since no toil touches the power of his divinity, but speaking in a
human way, he calls his patience with regard to us, toil.

R ESPONSORY Revelation 7:9.11.12

After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people,
and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
—wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: Amen.
—wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

TUESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of Ezra 4:1-5.24—5:5
Opposition to the reconstruction of the templ
R ESPONSORY Ps 85:1-2,4
Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
— Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin.
— Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

S ECOND R EADING
From a commentary on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Ps. 126, 2-3)
If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders toil
If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders toil (Ps 126:1). It is the Lord therefore
who builds the house, the Lord Jesus Christ builds his house. Many toil, but if he does not construct “the
builders toil in vain”. Who are those who toil in the building? All those in the Church who preach the Word
of God, the dispensers of the sacraments of God. All of us run, all of us work, all of us participate in the
construction, but “if the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders toil”. For this the apostles
and particularly Paul, seeing some slipping, affirm: You observe days, months, seasons and years! I fear for
you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you (Gal 4:10-11). Knowing that he himself has been
constructed interiorly by God, he was distressed for them, because he had vainly toiled for them. We
therefore speak externally, God constructs interiorly. I realize that you hear me, that he alone knows
whatever passes in your minds; he sees your thoughts. He builds, he admonishes, he inspires fear, he opens
the mind, he makes you sensible to the faith. And yet we also toil as workers, but if the Lord does not build
the house, in vain do the builders toil and the house is the city of God itself. The people of God is his
house, because the house of God is the temple of God. In fact what does the Apostle say? The temple of
God is holy, you are the temple of God (1 Cor 3:17). All the faithful are the house of God; not only the
present, but also those who have preceded us and who are dead, and all those who will come afterwards and
who are yet to be born into the human reality, up to the consummation of the ages: innumerable faithful
gathered together, but of whom the Lord knows the number, as the Apostle says: The Lord knows his own
(2 Tm 2:19).
Those grains of wheat that now groan in the midst of the straw are destined to form only one heap
when the barnyard at the end of the ages will be cleansed. Therefore the entire multitude of the holy
faithful, who are waiting to be transformed from men into angels of God and placed together with the
angels themselves, who now are not in journey but who wait for us when we will return from our
pilgrimage: all together construct one unique house of God, one unique city. This is Jerusalem. It possesses
guardians: as it has builders who toil in order to construct it, so also there are those who guard it. What the
Apostle says refers to the guardian: I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning,
your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Cor 11:3). He was
an attentive guardian, vigilant as much as he could, of those of whom he was a leader. The bishops also do
this. The bishop in fact is placed on a high place exactly so that he can watch over and guard the people.
This height becomes dangerous for us if in our hearts we do not feel humbly below you, and if we do
not pray for you so that he who knows your thoughts may guard you. We now can see how you act, not
however what you meditate in your hearts, in fact not even what you do in your houses. How then can we
guard you? As men, in as much as we can, in as much as it has been granted to us. We toil in guarding you,
but our toil is in vain if he who sees your thoughts does not guard. He guards you when you are awake and
also when you sleep. He has fallen asleep only once, on the cross; but he has risen, and sleeps no more. Be
Israel, since he does not sleep nor slumber, the guardian of Israel (Ps 120:4). Arise therefore, brothers, if
we want to be protected in the shadow of the wings of God, let us be Israel. We guard you because of our
office, but we want to be guarded together with you. We are shepherds for you. But with you we are sheep
of that Shepherd. From this position we speak to you as teachers, but with you we are disciples of that
school under the unique teacher.

R ESPONSORY Ephesians 2:20.21.22

You built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
—in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
—in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

WEDNESDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of the prophet Haggai 1:1—2:9
On the time of the rebuilding, the Lord will manifest his glory

R ESPONSORY Hg 1:8; Is 56:7

Go up to the hills and build the house,
— that I may take pleasure in it and appear in my glory, says the Lord.
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
— That I may take pleasure in it and appear in my glory, says the Lord.

S ECOND R EADING
From a commentary on Haggai by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
(Cap. 14: PG 71, 1047-1050)
My name is great among the nations
When our Savior came, he appeared as a divine temple, glorious beyond any comparison, far more
splendid and excellent than the older temple. He exceeded the old as much as worship in Christ and the
gospels exceeds the cult of the laws, as much as truth exceeds its shadows.
Furthermore, I might point out that originally there was just one temple at Jerusalem, in which one
people, the Israelites, offered their sacrifices. Since the only-begotten Son became like us, and as Scripture
says, though he was Lord and God, he has shone upon us (Ps 117:27), the rest of the world has been filled
with places of worship. Now there are countless worshipers who honor the universal God with spiritual
offerings and fragrant sacrifices. This, surely, is what Malachi foretold, speaking, as if in the person of
God: I am a great king, says the Lord; my name is honored among the nations, and everywhere there is
offered to my name the fragrance of a pure sacrifice (cf. Ml 1:11).
With justice, therefore, do we say that the final temple, the Church, will be more glorious. To those
who are so solicitous for the Church and labor for its construction, Haggai declares that a gift will be made,
a gift from heaven given by the Savior. That gift is Christ himself, the peace of all men; through him we
have access in the one Spirit to the Father (cf. Ep 2:18). The prophet goes on to say: I will give peace to this
place and peace of soul to save all who lay the foundation to rebuild the temple (cf. Hg 2:9). Christ too says
somewhere: My peace I give you (Jn 14:27). Paul will teach how profitable this is for those who love: The
peace of Christ, he says, which surpasses all understanding will keep your minds and hearts (cf. Ph 4:7).
Isaiah, the seer, made the same prayer: O Lord our God, give us peace, for you have given us everything (Is
26:12). Once a man has been found worthy of Christ’s peace, he can easily save his soul and guide his
mind to carry out exactingly the demands of virtue.
Haggai, therefore, declares that peace will be given to all who build. One builds the Church either as a
teacher of the sacred mysteries, as one set over the house of God, or as one who works for his own good by
setting himself forth as a living and spiritual stone (cf. 1 Cor 10:4) in the holy temple, God’s dwelling place
in the Spirit (cf. Ep 2:22). The results of these efforts will profit such men so that each will be able to gain
his own salvation without difficulty.

R ESPONSORY Psalm 83:5; Zechariah 2:15

Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord;
—they will praise you for ever.
Many nations will join the Lord on that day, and they will be his people.
—they will praise you for ever.

THURSDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of the prophet Haggai 2:11-23
God announces prosperity. Promises made to Zerubbabel

R ESPONSORY Hg 2:6-7,9
I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and dry land;
— so that the treasures of all nations shall come in.
The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, and in this place I will give
prosperity.
— So that the treasures of all nations shall come in.

S ECOND R EADING
From a treatise against Fabianus by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, bishop
(Cap. 28, 16-19: CCL 91 A, 813-814)
We are made holy by our sharing in Christ’s body and blood
In our offering of the holy sacrifice we fulfill the command of our Savior, as recorded by the apostle
Paul: The Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and after he had given thanks,
broke it and said: This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after
the supper, he took the cup saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink
it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you shall proclaim the
death of the Lord until he comes (1 Cor 11:23-26).
The sacrifice is offered, then, to proclaim the Lord’s death; it is offered in remembrance of him who
laid down his life for our sake. As he says: Greater love than this no one has, that one lay down his life for
his friends (Jn 15:13). Because Christ died for us out of love, we ask, when we make remembrance of his
death at the time of sacrifice, that we too may be granted love through the coming of the Holy Spirit. We
pray that by the love which Christ had for us when he braved the cross, we may receive the grace of the
Spirit and be crucified to the world, and the world to us. The death Christ died, he died to sin, once for all,
but the life he lives, he lives to God (cf. Rom 6:10-11). Let us imitate our Lord’s death, and also live a new
life (Rom 6:4). Strengthened with the gift of his love, let us die to sin and live for God.
For God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us
(Rom 5:5). Indeed our sharing in the Lord’s body and blood when we eat his bread and drink his cup
teaches us that we should die to the world, and that we should keep our life hidden with Christ in God,
crucifying our flesh with its vices and evil desires (cf. Col 3:3; Gal 5:24).
That is why all the faithful who love God and their neighbor truly drink the cup of the Lord’s love even
though they may not drink the cup of his bodily suffering. And becoming inebriated from it, they put to
death whatever their nature is rooted in earth. They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not
indulge fleshly desires. They do not fix their gaze on visible things, but contemplate things which the eye
cannot see. Thus they drink the Lord’s cup by preserving the holy bond of love; without it, even if a man
should deliver his body to be burned, he gains nothing. But the gift of love enables us to become in reality
what we celebrate as mystery in the sacrifice.

R ESPONSORY See Luke 22:19; John 6:58

Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke the bread.Then he gave it to his disciples and said:
—This is my body which is given up for you. Do this in memory of me.
This is the bread come down from heaven; anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
—This is my body which is given up for you. Do this in memory of me.

FRIDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of the prophet Zechariah 1:1—2:4
Jerusalem will be rebuilt

R ESPONSORY Zc 1:16; Rv 21:23

I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion;
— my house shall be built in it.
The city has no need of sun or moon, for its lamp is the Lamb.
— My house shall be built in it.
S ECOND R EADING
From an instruction by Saint Columban, abbot
(Instr. De compunctione, 12,2-3: Opera, Dublin 1957, pp. 112-114)
Light everlasting in the temple of the eternal high priest
How blessed, how fortunate, are those servants whom the Lord will find watchful when he comes (Lk
12:37). Blessed is the time of waiting when we stay awake for the Lord, the Creator of the universe, who
fills all things and transcends all things.
How I wish he would awaken me, his humble servant, from the sleep of slothfulness, even though I am
of little worth. How I wish he would rekindle me with that fire of divine love. The flames of his love burn
beyond the stars; the longing for his overwhelming delights and the divine fire ever burn within me!
How I wish I might deserve to have my lantern always burning at night in the temple of my Lord, to
give light to all who enter the house of my God. Give me, I pray you, Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ,
your Son and my God that love that does not fail so that my lantern, burning within me and giving light to
others, may be always lighted and never extinguished.
Jesus, our most loving Savior, be pleased to light our lanterns, so that they may burn for ever in your
temple, receiving light from you, the eternal light, to lighten our darkness and to ward off from us the
darkness of the world.
Give your light to my lantern, I beg you, my Jesus, so that by its light I may see that holy of holies
which receives you as the eternal priest entering among the columns of your great temple. May I ever see
you only, look on you, long for you; may I gaze with love on you alone, and have my lantern shining and
burning always in your presence.
Loving Savior, be pleased to show yourself to us who knock, so that in knowing you we may love only
you, love you alone, desire you alone, contemplate only you day and night, and always think of you. Inspire
us the depth of love that is fitting for you to receive as God. So may your love pervade our whole being,
possess us completely, and fill all our senses, that we may know no other love but love for you who are
everlasting. May our love be so great that the many waters of sky, land and sea cannot extinguish it in us:
many waters could not extinguish love (Sg 8:7).
May this saying be fulfilled in us also, at least in part, by your gift, Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom be
glory for ever and ever. Amen.

R ESPONSORY See Isaiah 60:119-20

The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor shall the brightness of the moon shine on you at night.
—The Lord shall be your everlasting light, and your God shall be your glory.
Your sun shall never set, nor shall your moon withdraw.
—The Lord shall be your everlasting light, and your God shall be your glory.

SATURDAY
F IRST R EADING
From the book of the prophet Zechariah 2:5-17
Visions and exhortation to those in exile

R ESPONSORY Zc 2:10-11
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion;
— for behold, I will come dwell in your midst.
Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people.
— For behold, I will come and dwell in your midst.

S ECOND R EADING
From a commentary on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Enarr. in Ps. 146, 4-5: CCL 40,2124-2125)
Seeing God
The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem, and calling the exiles from Israel back (Ps 146:2). So the Lord is
rebuilding Jerusalem and recalling its exiled people; for the people of Jerusalem are the people of Israel.
There is an eternal Jerusalem in heaven, where the citizens are also angels. What, then, does Israel mean?
Seeing God. So all the citizens of that city rejoice at seeing God in that great and splendid heavenly city.
God himself is their theater. But we are exiles from that city: banished for our sins, to prevent us remaining
there, and burdened with mortality, to prevent remaining there. God has noted our exile, and he who
rebuilds Jerusalem has reinstated the sinners. How did he reinstate them? By calling the exiles from Israel
back. For sin had made them exiles. God took pity on these and searched for them, since they were not
seeking for him. Where did he look? Whom did he send to set us free from our captivity? He sent the
Redeemer, as the apostle tells us: God shows his love for us, by the fact that when we were still sinners
Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).
So he sent his Son, our Redeemer, to set us free from our captivity. “Take a purse with you,” he said,
“and put the prisoners in it.” For he clothed himself in a mortal body, and there was the blood which was
shed for our redemption. With that blood he called the exiles from Israel back. Yet if he called back exiles
long ago, why should he want to call back exiles today? If the exiles were called back to be shaped into a
building by the craftsman’s hand, why should those be called back whose own turbulence caused them to
fall out of the craftsman’s hand? He heals those who have a contrite heart. That is why the exiles from
Israel are called back: to be healed through a contrite heart (Ps 146:3). Those who have failed to mortify
their heart are not healed. What does it mean: to mortify our heart? If you had wanted a sacrifice, I should
certainly have given you one; but you take no pleasure in burnt offerings. What then? Are we to remain
without the oblation of sacrifice? Listen to what he wants you to offer, as he goes on to say: The sacrifice
acceptable to God is a contrite spirit; God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. So he heals those
who have a contrite heart; for he comes near to them to heal them; as it is said elsewhere: The Lord is near
to those who have a contrite heart. Such are the people he heals; but their healing will only be perfect at the
end of their mortal life, when this corruptible body will put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body will
put on immortality (cf. 1 Cor 15:53).
Our Spirit therefore has received this pledge, so that we may begin to serve God in faith and, through
faith, to be called just, since: My just one will live through faith (Heb. 10: 38). All what now obstructs us
and resists us, comes from the mortality of the flesh; this also will be healed. He says in fact: God will give
life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit which dwells in you. For this he has given it to us as a
pledge, in order to bring to fulfilment his promise. What will happen therefore in this life, in which we are
witnesses but not yet possessors? How will the cure take place? He heals the broken hearted. But the
perfect health will take place in the time that we have said: And now what does he do? He binds their
wounds: he who cures the contrite hearts, whose perfect health will be had in the resurrection of the just,
now keeps their intentions firm.

R ESPONSORY See Isaiah 2:2; Psalm 86:5

The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills.
—All nations shall stream toward it; and they will rejoice singing hymns of joy.
But of Zion it must be said: They all were born here and the Most High confirms this.
—All nations shall stream toward it; and they will rejoice singing hymns of joy.