Sunday, September 17, 2017
Liturgical Season: 
Special Significance: 
I Sunday after Sleebo

Lk 17:20-37

The Coming of the Kingdom of God. 20* Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed,i 21* and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’j For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”

The Day of the Son of Man. 22Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ [or] ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.k 24For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day].l 25But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.m 26As it was in the days of Noah,n so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28o Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31p On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind.q 32Remember the wife of Lot. 33Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.r 34I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35s And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” 36There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,* 37They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”t

Gn 42:1-8

The Brothers’ First Journey to Egypt.* 1When Jacob learned that grain rations were for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons: “Why do you keep looking at one another?” 2He went on, “I hear that grain is for sale in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, that we may stay alive and not die.”a 3So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought some disaster might befall him. 5And so the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since there was famine in the land of Canaan.b

6Joseph, as governor of the country, was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. When Joseph’s brothers came, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.c 7He recognized them as soon as he saw them. But he concealed his own identity from them and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked them. They answered, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

8When Joseph recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him,

Sir 15:11-20

11Do not say: “It was God’s doing that I fell away,”

for what he hates he does not do.

12Do not say: “He himself has led me astray,”

for he has no need of the wicked.c

13Abominable wickedness the LORD hates

and he does not let it happen to those who fear him.

14God in the beginning created human beings

and made them subject to their own free choice.d

15If you choose, you can keep the commandments;

loyalty is doing the will of God.

16Set before you are fire and water;

to whatever you choose, stretch out your hand.

17Before everyone are life and death,

whichever they choose will be given them.e

18Immense is the wisdom of the LORD;

mighty in power, he sees all things.

19The eyes of God behold his works,

and he understands every human deed.f

20He never commands anyone to sin,

nor shows leniency toward deceivers.*

Ps 29:1-11

1A psalm of David.

Give to the LORD, you sons of God,*

give to the LORD glory and might;

2Give to the LORD the glory due his name.

Bow down before the LORD’s holy splendor!a

3The voice of the LORD* is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over the mighty waters.

4The voice of the LORD is power;

the voice of the LORD is splendor.b

5The voice of the LORD cracks the cedars;

the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon,

6Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,

and Sirion* like a young bull.

7The voice of the LORD strikes with fiery flame;

8the voice of the LORD shakes the desert;

the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh.

9*The voice of the LORD makes the deer dance

and strips the forests bare.

All in his Temple say, “Glory!”

10The LORD sits enthroned above the flood!*c

The LORD reigns as king forever!

11May the LORD give might to his people;*

may the LORD bless his people with peace!d

Is 57:14-21

14And I say:

Build up, build up, prepare the way,

remove every obstacle from my people’s way.* d

15* For thus says the high and lofty One,

the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy:

I dwell in a high and holy place,

but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,

To revive the spirit of the lowly,

to revive the heart of the crushed.

16For I will not accuse forever,

nor always be angry;

For without me their spirit fails,

the life breath that I have given.e

17Because of their wicked avarice I grew angry;

I struck them, hiding myself from them in wrath.

But they turned back, following the way

of their own heart.f

18I saw their ways,

but I will heal them.

I will lead them and restore full comfort to them

and to those who mourn for them,g

19creating words of comfort.*

Peace! Peace to those who are far and near,

says the LORD; and I will heal them.

20But the wicked are like the tossing sea

which cannot be still,

Its waters cast up mire and mud.h

21There is no peace for the wicked!

says my God.i

Acts 3:21-26

21whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration* of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 22For Moses said:*

‘A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you

from among your own kinsmen;

to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.l

23Everyone who does not listen to that prophet

will be cut off from the people.’m

24Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. 25You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’n 26For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”o

1 Cor 2:10-16

10f this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God. 11Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.*

14Now the natural person* does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually. 15The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgment* by anyone.

16For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?” But we have the mind of Christ.g

Mk 13:28-37

The Lesson of the Fig Tree. 28m “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 29In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. 30Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Need for Watchfulness. 32“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33n Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.o 35Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. 36May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”