Monday, February 26, 2024
Liturgical Season: 
VII The Season of Sleebo

Gn 18:22-33

22As the men turned and walked on toward Sodom, Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23Then Abraham drew near and said: “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous people in the city; would you really sweep away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people within it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Should not the judge of all the world do what is just?”g 26The LORD replied: If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake. 27Abraham spoke up again: “See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am only dust and ashes!h 28What if there are five less than fifty righteous people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?” I will not destroy it, he answered, if I find forty-five there. 29But Abraham persisted, saying, “What if only forty are found there?” He replied: I will refrain from doing it for the sake of the forty. 30Then he said, “Do not let my Lord be angry if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?” He replied: I will refrain from doing it if I can find thirty there. 31Abraham went on, “Since I have thus presumed to speak to my Lord, what if there are no more than twenty?” I will not destroy it, he answered, for the sake of the twenty. 32But he persisted: “Please, do not let my Lord be angry if I speak up this last time. What if ten are found there?” For the sake of the ten, he replied, I will not destroy it.i

33The LORD departed as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned home.

Eph 5:1-4

1So be imitators of God,* as beloved children,a 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.b 3Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones,c 4no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.d

Lk 4:16-19

The Rejection at Nazareth.* l 16He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom* into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,*

because he has anointed me

to bring glad tidings to the poor.m

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

19and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”