FIRST READING
“He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”
A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 4:7-15)
Brethren:
We have the treasure [of the apostolate] in earthen vessels,
to show that the transcendent power
belongs to God and not to us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
For while we live
we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith
as he had who wrote, “I believed, and so I spoke,”
we too believe, and so we speak,
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and bring us with you into his presence.
For it is all for your sake,
so that as grace extends to more and more people
it may increase thanksgiving,
to the glory of God.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 116: 10-, 11.15-16.1 7- 18 (R. cf 17a)
R/. A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
I trusted, even when I said,
“I am sorely afflicted,”
and when I said in my alarm,
“These people are all liars.” R/.
How precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I,
the son of your handmaid;
you have loosened my bonds. R/.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the name of the Lord.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people. R/.
ALLELUIA
Philippians 2:15d.16a
V/ Alleluia. R/. Alleluia.
V/ You will shine as lights in the world,
holding fast the word of life.
R/. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
”Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her.”
† A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 5:27-32)
At that time:
Jesus said to his disciples,
“You have heard that it was said,
‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
pluck it out and throw it away;
it is better that you lose one of your members
than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away;
it is better that you lose one of your members
than that your whole body go into hell.
“It was also said,
‘Whoever divorces his wife,
let him give her a certificate of divorce. ’
But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife,
except on the ground of unchastity,
makes her an adulteress;
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
The Gospel of the Lord.