Sunday, October 9, 2016
Liturgical Season: 
VII The Season of Sleebo
Special Significance: 
IV Sunday after Sleebo
Patriarch Abraham

Mt 24:3-14

The Beginning of Calamities. 3As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives,* the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4* Jesus said to them in reply, “See that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. 6b You will hear of wars* and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. 7c Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. 8* All these are the beginning of the labor pains. 9* d Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. 11Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; 12and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. 13e But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 14f And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations,* and then the end will come.

Dt 7:6-11

6For you are a people holy to the LORD, your God; the LORD, your God, has chosen you from all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people specially his own.f 7It was not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you; for you are really the smallest of all peoples.g 8It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your ancestors, that the LORD brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.h 9i Know, then, that the LORD, your God, is God: the faithful God who keeps covenant mercy to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments,j 10but who repays with destruction those who hate him; he does not delay with those who hate him, but makes them pay for it. 11Therefore carefully observe the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which I command you today.

Sir 35:1-11

1To keep the law is to make many offerings;a

2whoever observes the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.

3By works of charity one offers fine flour,*

4and one who gives alms presents a sacrifice of praise.

5To refrain from evil pleases the Lord,

and to avoid injustice is atonement.

6Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed,

7for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the precepts.b

8The offering of the just enriches the altar:

a sweet odor before the Most High.

9The sacrifice of the just is accepted,

never to be forgotten.

10With a generous spirit pay homage to the Lord,

and do not spare your freewill gifts.c

11With each contribution show a cheerful countenance,

and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.d

Hos 14:1-9

1Samaria* has become guilty,

for she has rebelled against her God.

They shall fall by the sword,

their infants shall be dashed to pieces,a

their pregnant women shall be ripped open.b

2Return, Israel, to the LORD, your God;

you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

3Take with you words,

and return to the LORD;

Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,

and take what is good.

Let us offer the fruit of our lips.c

4* Assyria will not save us,

nor will we mount horses;d

We will never again say, ‘Our god,’

to the work of our hands;

for in you the orphan finds compassion.”e

5I will heal their apostasy,

I will love them freely;

for my anger is turned away from them.

6I will be like the dew for Israel:f

he will blossom like the lily;

He will strike root like the Lebanon cedar,

7and his shoots will go forth.g

His splendor will be like the olive tree

and his fragrance like Lebanon cedar.h

8Again they will live in his shade;

they will raise grain,

They will blossom like the vine,

and his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

9Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols?i

I have humbled him, but I will take note of him.

I am like a verdant cypress tree.*

From me fruit will be found for you!

Is 40:21-26

21Do you not know? Have you not heard?

Was it not told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the founding of the earth?

22The one who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,

its inhabitants like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a veil

and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,i

23Who brings princes to nought

and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely their stem rooted in the earth,

When he breathes upon them and they wither,

and the stormwind carries them away like straw.

25To whom can you liken me as an equal?

says the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes on high

and see who created* these:

He leads out their army and numbers them,

calling them all by name.

By his great might and the strength of his power

not one of them is missing!j

Jas 5:1-6

Warning to the Rich.* 1Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.a 2Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,b 3your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days.c 4Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.d 5You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.e 6You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one;f he offers you no resistance.*

Rom 5:15-21

Grace and Life Through Christ. 15But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many. 16And the gift is not like the result of the one person’s sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. 17For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ. 18In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.k 19For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.l 20The law entered in* so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,m 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.n

Mt 24:15-28

The Great Tribulation.* 15g “When you see the desolating abomination* spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then those in Judea must flee* to the mountains, 17* h a person on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house, 18a person in the field must not return to get his cloak. 19Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. 20* Pray that your flight not be in winter or on the sabbath, 21* i for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. 22And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened. 23j If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. 25Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. 26So if they say to you, ‘He is in the desert,’ do not go out there; if they say, ‘He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.* 27k For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.