Yahweh is merciful and gracious,slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.

Thu Nov 02nd 2023

Reading 1, Wisdom 3:1-9

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
And no torment will touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died;
And their departure was accounted
to be their
hurt,
And their journeying away from us
to be their
ruin:
But they are in peace.
For even if in the sight of men they be punished,
Their hope is full of immortality;
And having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good;
Because God made trial of them, and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace he proved them,
And as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.
And in the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
And as sparks among stubble they will run to and fro.
They will judge nations, and have dominion over peoples;
And the Lord will reign over them for evermore.
They that trust on him will understand truth,
And
the faithful will abide with him in love;
Because grace and mercy are to his chosen.

Reading 2, Romans 6:3-9

Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
For he who has died has been freed from sin.
But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;
knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him!

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 103:8, 10, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18

Yahweh is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us for our iniquities.
Like a father has compassion on his children,
so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
For he knows how we are made.
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass.
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone.
Its place remembers it no more.
But Yahweh’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him,
his righteousness to children’s children;
to those who keep his covenant,
to those who remember to obey his precepts.

Gospel, Matthew 25:31-46

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.
I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?
When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you?
When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’

“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,
you did it to me.’
Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’

“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”