From the responsorial psalm: "O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. You are my inheritance, O Lord!"

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 13:24-32)

"Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Jesus speaks to the disciples about the coming in glory of the Son of Man. At his coming, the stars will fall, the moon will no longer give light, and “the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” Echoing Daniel, who describes in apocalyptic language a “time unsurpassed distress,” Jesus conveys his return powerfully but also tenderly in terms of the fig tree branches becoming tender and sprouting leaves. “And then,” Jesus tells the disciples, “they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory” and that although heaven and earth pass away, his words—our inheritance of eternal life—will not pass away.

Father in heaven, teach me to be vigilant at all times for the return of your Son on a day and time I cannot know. In times of tribulation, help me call to mind your constant, tender care in leading me to you. In your presence is the path to life and the fullness of joy. Throughout the moments of this day, keep me in your presence and under your protection, as when we hear the priest say during the Mass after the Lord’s Prayer: “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.