Fri Nov 24th 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.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 125:1-5

Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion,
which can’t be moved, but remains forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more.
For the scepter of wickedness won’t remain over the allotment of the righteous;
so that the righteous won’t use their hands to do evil.
Do good, Yahweh, to those who are good,
to those who are upright in their hearts.
But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity.
Peace be on Israel.

Gospel, Matthew 10:17-22

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.
For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.
You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.