Readings: Memorial of St. Martha

First Reading

First Reading: 1 John  4:7-16

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

Responsorial Psalm

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm  34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

R./   I will bless the Lord at all times.
          or:
  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the Lord at all times;
          his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
          the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R./   I will bless the Lord at all times.
          or:
  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the Lord with me,
          let us together extol his name.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
          and delivered me from all my fears.
R./   I will bless the Lord at all times.
          or:
  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

The angel of the Lord encamps
          around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the Lord is;
          blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R./   I will bless the Lord at all times.
          or:
  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Fear the Lord, you his holy ones,
          for nought is lacking to those who fear him.
The great grow poor and hungry;
          but those who seek the Lord want for no good thing.
R./   I will bless the Lord at all times.
          or:
  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Holy Gospel

Gospel Reading: John   11:19-27

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
          to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
          she went to meet him;
          but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
          “Lord, if you had been here,
          my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
          God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
          “Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
          “I know he will rise,
          in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
          “I am the resurrection and the life;
          whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
          and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
          the one who is coming into the world.”