THE
READINGS
September 20, 2015
FIRST READING: Jeremiah 11:18-20
18It was the LORD who
made it known to me, and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds.
19But I was like a gentle
lamb
led to the slaughter.
And I did not know it was against me
that they devised schemes, saying,
"Let us destroy the tree with
its fruit,
let us cut him off from the land of
the living,
so that his name will no longer be
remembered!"
20But you, O LORD of
hosts, who judge righteously,
who try the heart and the mind,
let me see your retribution upon
them,
for to you I have committed my
cause.
PSALM: Psalm 54 - please read responsively
1Save me, O God, by your
name;
in your might, defend my cause.
2Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my
mouth.
3For strangers have
risen up against me,
and the ruthless have sought my life,
those who have no regard for God.
4Behold, God is my
helper;
it is the Lord who sustains my
life.
5Render evil to those
who spy on me;
in your faithfulness, destroy them.
6I will offer you a
freewill sacrifice
and praise your name, O LORD, for
it is good.
7For you have rescued me
from every trouble,
and my eye looks down on my enemies.
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SECOND READING: James 3:134:3, 7-8a
13Who is wise and
understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with
gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish
ambition
in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15Such
wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16For
where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and
wickedness of every kind. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits,
without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of
righteousness
is sown in peace for those who make peace.
4:1Those conflicts and
disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your
cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not
have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so
you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You
ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get
on your pleasures. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will
draw near to you.
Stand
P: The holy gospel according to St. Mark, the
9th chapter.
C:
Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL: Mark
9:30-37
30[Jesus and the
disciples went on] and passed through Galilee. He did not want
anyone
to know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them,
"The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill
him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." 32But
they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33Then they came to
Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you
arguing about on the way?" 34But they were silent, for on the
way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35He sat
down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must
be last of all and servant of all." 36Then he took a little
child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever
welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever
welcomes
me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
P: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.
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