Reading I Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2 Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!     wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth,     O ministers of my God! The house of your God is deprived     of offering and libation. Proclaim a fast,     call an assembly; Gather the elders,     all who dwell in the land, Into the house of the LORD, your God,     and cry to the LORD! Alas, the day!     for near is the day of the LORD,     and it comes as ruin from the Almighty. Blow the trumpet in Zion,     sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble,     for the day of the LORD is coming; Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,     a day of clouds and somberness! Like dawn spreading over the mountains,     a people numerous and mighty! Their like has not been from of old,     nor will it be after them,     even to the years of distant generations. Responsorial Psalm 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9 R.    (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice. I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;     I will declare all your wondrous deeds. I will be glad and exult in you;     I will sing praise to your name, Most High. R.    The Lord will judge the world with justice. You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;     their name you blotted out forever and ever. The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;     in the snare they set, their foot is caught. R.    The Lord will judge the world with justice. But the LORD sits enthroned forever;     he has set up his throne for judgment. He judges the world with justice;     he governs the peoples with equity. R.    The Lord will judge the world with justice. Alleluia Jn 12:31b-32 R. Alleluia, alleluia. The prince of this world will now be cast out, and when I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all to myself, says the Lord. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 11:15-26 When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.” - - -Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Reading 1 Mal 3:13-20b You have defied me in word, says the LORD,yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?"You have said, "It is vain to serve God,and what do we profit by keeping his command,And going about in penitential dressin awe of the LORD of hosts?Rather must we call the proud blessed;for indeed evildoers prosper,and even tempt God with impunity."Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,and the LORD listened attentively;And a record book was written before himof those who fear the LORD and trust in his name.And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,my own special possession, on the day I take action.And I will have compassion on them,as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.Then you will again see the distinctionbetween the just and the wicked;Between the one who serves God,and the one who does not serve him.For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,And the day that is coming will set them on fire,leaving them neither root nor branch,says the LORD of hosts.But for you who fear my name, there will arisethe sun of justice with its healing rays. Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 R. (Ps 40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.Blessed the man who follows notthe counsel of the wickedNor walks in the way of sinners,nor sits in the company of the insolent,But delights in the law of the LORDand meditates on his law day and night.R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.He is like a treeplanted near running water,That yields its fruit in due season,and whose leaves never fade.Whatever he does, prospers.R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.Not so the wicked, not so;they are like chaff which the wind drives away.For the LORD watches over the way of the just,but the way of the wicked vanishes.R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord. Alleluia See Acts 16:14b R. Alleluia, alleluia.Open our hearts, O Lord,to listen to the words of your Son.R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 11:5-13 Jesus said to his disciples:"Suppose one of you has a friendto whom he goes at midnight and says,'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journeyand I have nothing to offer him,'and he says in reply from within,'Do not bother me; the door has already been lockedand my children and I are already in bed.I cannot get up to give you anything.'I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loavesbecause of their friendship,he will get up to give him whatever he needsbecause of his persistence."And I tell you, ask and you will receive;seek and you will find;knock and the door will be opened to you.For everyone who asks, receives;and the one who seeks, finds;and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.What father among you would hand his son a snakewhen he asks for a fish?Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?If you then, who are wicked,know how to give good gifts to your children,how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spiritto those who ask him?" - - -Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Reading 1 Jon 4:1-11 Jonah was greatly displeasedand became angry that God did not carry out the evilhe threatened against Nineveh.He prayed, "I beseech you, LORD,is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?This is why I fled at first to Tarshish.I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God,slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish.And now, LORD, please take my life from me;for it is better for me to die than to live."But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to be angry?"Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it,where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade,to see what would happen to the city.And when the LORD God provided a gourd plantthat grew up over Jonah's head,giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,Jonah was very happy over the plant.But the next morning at dawnGod sent a worm that attacked the plant,so that it withered.And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind;and the sun beat upon Jonah's head till he became faint.Then Jonah asked for death, saying,"I would be better off dead than alive."But God said to Jonah,"Have you reason to be angry over the plant?""I have reason to be angry," Jonah answered, "angry enough to die."Then the LORD said,"You are concerned over the plant which cost you no laborand which you did not raise;it came up in one night and in one night it perished.And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city,in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand personswho cannot distinguish their right hand from their left,not to mention the many cattle?" Responsorial Psalm Ps 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10 R. (15) Lord, you are merciful and gracious.Have mercy on me, O Lord,for to you I call all the day.Gladden the soul of your servant,for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.Hearken, O LORD, to my prayerand attend to the sound of my pleading.R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.All the nations you have made shall comeand worship you, O Lord,and glorify your name.For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;you alone are God.R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious. Alleluia Rom 8:15bc R. Alleluia, alleluia.You have received a spirit of adoption as sonsthrough which we cry: Abba! Father!R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 11:1-4 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,one of his disciples said to him,"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."He said to them, "When you pray, say:Father, hallowed be your name,your Kingdom come.Give us each day our daily breadand forgive us our sinsfor we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,and do not subject us to the final test." Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint John XXIII, pope - - -Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh,and announce to it the message that I will tell you."So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,according to the LORD's bidding.Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;it took three days to go through it.Jonah began his journey through the city,and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"when the people of Nineveh believed God;they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.When the news reached the king of Nineveh,he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,by decree of the king and his nobles:"Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,shall taste anything;they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;every man shall turn from his evil wayand from the violence he has in hand.Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,so that we shall not perish."When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;he did not carry it out. Responsorial Psalm Ps 130:1b-2, 3-4ab, 7-8 R. (3) If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORDLORD, hear my voice!Let your ears be attentiveto my voice in supplication.R. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,LORD, who can stand?But with you is forgiveness,that you may be revered.R. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?Let Israel wait for the LORD,For with the LORD is kindnessand with him is plenteous redemption;And he will redeem Israelfrom all their iniquities.R. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand? Alleluia Lk 11:28 R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are those who hear the word of Godand observe it.R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Lk 10:38-42 Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.She had a sister named Marywho sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,"Lord, do you not carethat my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply,"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better partand it will not be taken from her." - - -Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.