Readings at Mass

First readingJeremiah 38:4-6,8-10

‘Do not let the prophet die’

The

king’s leading men spoke to the king. ‘Let Jeremiah be put to death: he

is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and

all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the

welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’ ‘He is in your

hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless

against you.’ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of

Prince Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes.

There was no water in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah

sank.

  Ebed-melech came out from the palace and spoke to the

king. ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these men have done a wicked thing by

treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they have thrown him into the

well, where he will die.’ At this the king gave Ebed-melech the Cushite

the following order: ‘Take three men with you from here and pull the

prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies.’

Responsorial PsalmPsalm 39(40):2-4,18

Lord, come to my aid!

I waited, I waited for the Lord

  and he stooped down to me;

  he heard my cry.

Lord, come to my aid!

He drew me from the deadly pit,

  from the miry clay.

He set my feet upon a rock

  and made my footsteps firm.

Lord, come to my aid!

He put a new song into my mouth,

  praise of our God.

Many shall see and fear

  and shall trust in the Lord.

Lord, come to my aid!

As for me, wretched and poor,

  the Lord thinks of me.

You are my rescuer, my help,

  O God, do not delay.

Lord, come to my aid!

Second readingHebrews 12:1-4

We should keep running steadily in the race we have started

With

so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then,

should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that

clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started.

Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it

to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future,

he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right

of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners

and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against

sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.

GospelLuke 12:49-53

How I wish it were blazing already!

Jesus

said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how

I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still

receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

  ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on

earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household

of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the

father divided against the son, son against father, mother against

daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against

daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Source: https://universalis.com/