First Reading
Isaiah 44:9-20All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame. The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!" The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, "Save me, for you are my god!" They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?"
Second Reading
Ephesians 4:17-32Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
The Holy Gospel
Mark 3:19-35and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
Morning Psalms
Psalm 26 Judica me, Domine1 Give judgment for me, O LORD, for I have lived with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
2 Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and my mind.
3 For your love is before my eyes; I have walked faithfully with you.
4 I have not sat with the worthless, nor do I consort with the deceitful.
5 I have hated the company of evildoers; I will not sit down with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence, O LORD, that I may go in procession round your altar,
7 Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and recounting all your wonderful deeds.
8 LORD, I love the house in which you dwell and the place where your glory abides.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with those who thirst for blood,
10 Whose hands are full of evil plots, and their right hand full of bribes.
11 As for me, I will live with integrity; redeem me, O LORD, and have pity on me.
12 My foot stands on level ground; in the full assembly I will bless the LORD.
Psalm 28 Ad te, Domine
1 O LORD, I call to you; my Rock, do not be deaf to my cry; lest, if you do not hear me, I become like those who go down to the Pit.
2 Hear the voice of my prayer when I cry out to you, when I lift up my hands to your holy of holies.
3 Do not snatch me away with the wicked or with the evildoers, who speak peaceably with their neighbors, while strife is in their hearts.
4 Repay them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their actions.
5 According to the work of their hands repay them, and give them their just deserts.
6 They have no understanding of the LORD'S doings, nor of the works of his hands; therefore he will break them down and not build them up.
7 Blessed is the LORD! for he has heard the voice of my prayer.
8 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I have been helped;
9 Therefore my heart dances for joy, and in my song will I praise him.
10 The LORD is the strength of his people, a safe refuge for his anointed.
11 Save your people and bless your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them for ever.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 36 Dixit injustus1 There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself in his own eyes that his hateful sin will not be found out.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has left off acting wisely and doing good.
4 He thinks up wickedness upon his bed and has set himself in no good way; he does not abhor that which is evil.
5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep; you save both man and beast, O LORD.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, and your favor to those who are true of heart.
11 Let not the foot of the proud come near me, nor the hand of the wicked push me aside.
12 See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness! they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.
Psalm 39 Dixi, Custodiam
1 I said, "I will keep watch upon my ways, so that I do not offend with my tongue.
2 I will put a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked are in my presence."
3 So I held my tongue and said nothing; I refrained from rash words; but my pain became unbearable.
4 My heart was hot within me; while I pondered, the fire burst into flame; I spoke out with my tongue:
5 LORD, let me know my end and the number of my days, so that I may know how short my life is.
6 You have given me a mere handful of days, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight; truly, even those who stand erect are but a puff of wind.
7 We walk about like a shadow, and in vain we are in turmoil; we heap up riches and cannot tell who will gather them.
8 And now, what is my hope? O Lord, my hope is in you.
9 Deliver me from all my transgressions and do not make me the taunt of the fool.
10 I fell silent and did not open my mouth, for surely it was you that did it.
11 Take your affliction from me; I am worn down by the blows of your hand.
12 With rebukes for sin you punish us; like a moth you eat away all that is dear to us; truly, everyone is but a puff of wind.
13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears.
14 For I am but a sojourner with you, a wayfarer, as all my forebears were.
15 Turn your gaze from me, that I may be glad again, before I go my way and am no more.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
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