Thursday, December 31, 2015
Liturgical Season: 
II The Season of Yaldo-Denho

Rom 11:1-10

The Remnant of Israel.* 1I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Of course not!a For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.b 2God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”c 4But what is God’s response to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal.”d 5So also at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.e 6But if by grace, it is no longer because of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.f 7What then? What Israel was seeking it did not attain, but the elect attained it; the rest were hardened,g 8as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of deep sleep,

eyes that should not see

and ears that should not hear,

down to this very day.”h

9And David says:i

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

10let their eyes grow dim so that they may not see,

and keep their backs bent forever.”

Lk 13:6-9

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree.* 6c And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, 7he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”