Sunday, March 6, 2016
Liturgical Season: 
III The Season of Great Fast
Special Significance: 
K'piphtho Sunday (Curing the Crippled Woman)
V Sunday of the Great Fast

Lk 10:25-37

The Greatest Commandment.w 25* There was a scholar of the law* who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”x 26Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”y 28He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”z

The Parable of the Good Samaritan. 29But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. 31* A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 32Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 33But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. 34He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ 36Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” 37He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Nm 14:11-25

11And the LORD said to Moses: How long will this people spurn me? How long will they not trust me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?d 12I will strike them with pestilence and disown them. Then I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.e

13f But Moses said to the LORD: “The Egyptians will hear of this, for by your power you brought out this people from among them. 14They will tell the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that you, LORD, are in the midst of this people; you, LORD, who directly revealed yourself! Your cloud stands over them, and you go before them by day in a column of cloud and by night in a column of fire.g 15If now you slay this people all at once, the nations who have heard such reports of you will say, 16‘The LORD was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them; that is why he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’h 17Now then, may my Lord’s forbearance be great, even as you have said, 18i ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity and rebellion; yet certainly not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children to the third and fourth generation for their parents’ iniquity.’ 19Pardon, then, the iniquity of this people in keeping with your great kindness, even as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”j

20The LORD answered: I pardon them as you have asked. 21Yet, by my life and the LORD’s glory that fills the whole earth, 22of all the people who have seen my glory and the signs I did in Egypt and in the wilderness,k and who nevertheless have put me to the test ten times already and have not obeyed me, 23not one shall see the land which I promised on oath to their ancestors. None of those who have spurned me shall see it. 24But as for my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and follows me unreservedly,l I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall possess it. 25But now, since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys,* turn away tomorrow and set out into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea road.

Sir 11:7-19

7Before investigating, do not find fault;

examine first, then criticize.

8Before listening, do not say a word,

interrupt no one in the midst of speaking.a

9Do not dispute about what is not your concern;

in the quarrels of the arrogant do not take part.

10My son, why increase your anxiety,

since whoever is greedy for wealth will not be blameless?

Even if you chase after it, you will never overtake it;

and by fleeing you will not escape.

11One may work and struggle and drive,

and fall short all the same.b

12Others go their way broken-down drifters,

with little strength and great misery—

Yet the eye of the LORD looks favorably upon them,

shaking them free of the stinking mire.

13He lifts up their heads and exalts them

to the amazement of the many.

14* Good and evil, life and death,c

poverty and riches—all are from the LORD.†

17The Lord’s gift remains with the devout;

his favor brings lasting success.

18Some become rich through a miser’s life,

and this is their allotted reward:

19When they say: “I have found rest,d

now I will feast on my goods,”

They do not know how long it will be

till they die and leave them to others.*

Hos 11:1-6

1* When Israel was a child I loved him,a

out of Egypt* I called my son.b

2The more I called them,

the farther they went from me,

Sacrificing to the Baals

and burning incense to idols.

3Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

who took them in my arms;c

but they did not know that I cared for them.

4I drew them with human cords,

with bands of love;*

I fostered them like those

who raise an infant to their cheeks;

I bent down to feed them.d

5He shall return to the land of Egypt,e

Assyria shall be his king,

because they have refused to repent.

6The sword shall rage in his cities:

it shall destroy his diviners,

and devour them because of their schemings.

Is 24:1-6

1See! The LORD is about to empty the earth and lay it waste;

he will twist its surface,

and scatter its inhabitants:a

2People and priest shall fare alike:

servant and master,

Maid and mistress,

buyer and seller,

Lender and borrower,

creditor and debtor.b

3The earth shall be utterly laid waste, utterly stripped,

for the LORD has decreed this word.

4The earth mourns and fades,

the world languishes and fades;

both heaven and earth languish.c

5The earth is polluted because of its inhabitants,

for they have transgressed laws, violated statutes,

broken the ancient covenant.* d

6Therefore a curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants pay for their guilt;

Therefore they who dwell on earth have dwindled,

and only a few are left.e

1 Pt 3:18-22

18For Christ also suffered* for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit.g 19In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,* 20who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.h 21This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God* for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,i 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.j

Gal 5:16-26

16l I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.* 17For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.m 18But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.n 19* Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,o 20idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,p 21occasions of envy,* drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,q 23gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.r 24Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.s 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.t 26Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.u

Lk 13:10-17

Cure of a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath.* 10He was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. 11And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. 12When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” 13He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. 14d But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” 15* The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?e 16* This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?”f 17When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.