Readings: Thursday, August 16, 2018

First Reading

First Reading: Ez 12:1-12

 

while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness;
 cover your face that you may not see the land,
 for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.
 
I did as I was told.
 During the day I brought out my baggage
 as though it were that of an exile,
 and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand
 and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness,
 shouldering my burden.
 
Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:
 Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house,
 ask you what you were doing?
 Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD:
 This oracle concerns Jerusalem
 and the whole house of Israel within it.
 I am a sign for you: 
as I have done, so shall it be done to them;
 as captives they shall go into exile.
 The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden
 and set out in darkness,
 going through a hole he has dug out in the wall,
 and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.

Responsorial Psalm

Responsorial Psalm : Ps 78:56-57, 58-59, 61-62

R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!

 

They tempted and rebelled against God the Most High,
 and kept not his decrees.
 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers;
 they recoiled like a treacherous bow.
 
 R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
They angered him with their high places
 and with their idols roused his jealousy.
 God heard and was enraged
 and utterly rejected Israel.
 
 R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!
 
 And he surrendered his strength into captivity,
 his glory in the hands of the foe.
 He abandoned his people to the sword
 and was enraged against his inheritance.
 
 R./ Do not forget the works of the Lord!

Holy Gospel

Gospel Reading : Mt 18:21–19:1

 

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
 “Lord, if my brother sins against me,
 how often must I forgive him?
 As many as seven times?”
 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
 That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
 who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
 When he began the accounting,
 a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
 Since he had no way of paying it back,
 his master ordered him to be sold,
 along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
 in payment of the debt.
 At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
 ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
 Moved with compassion the master of that servant
 let him go and forgave him the loan.
 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
 who owed him a much smaller amount.
 He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
 ‘Pay back what you owe.’
 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
 ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
 But he refused.
 Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
 until he paid back the debt.
 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
 they were deeply disturbed,
 and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
 I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
 as I had pity on you?’
 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
 until he should pay back the whole debt.
 So will my heavenly Father do to you,
 unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
 
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
 and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.