Second
Reading
A
reading from the letter of St Paul to
the Romans
With God on our side who can be against
us? Since God did not spare
his own Son, but gave him to benefit us
all, we may be certain,
after such a gift, that he will not refuse
anything he can give. Could
anyone accuse those that God has chosen?
When God acquits, could
anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No!
He not only died for us - he
rose from the dead, and there at God's
right hand he stands and pleads
for us.
Nothing therefore can come between us
and the love of Christ,
even if we are troubled or worried or
being persecuted, or lacking food
or clothes, or being threatened or even
attacked. These are the trials
through which we triumph,.by the power
of him who loved us.
For I am certain of this: neither death
nor life, no angel, no prince,
nothing that exists, nothing still to
come, not any power, or height or
depth, nor any created thing, can ever
come between us and the love of
God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the letter of St Paul to
the Romans
Think of God's mercy, my brothers, and
worship him, I beg you, in a
way that is worthy of thinking beings,
by offering your living bodies
as a holy sacrafice, truly pleasing to
God. Do not model yourselves on
the behaviour of the world around you,
but let your behaviour change,
modelled by your new mind. This is the
only way to discover the will
of God and know what is good, what it
is that God wants, what is the
perfect thing to do.
Do not let your love be a pretence, but
sincerely prefer good to evil.
Love each other as much as brothers and
sisters should, and have a profound
respect for each other. Work for the Lord
with untiring effort and with
great earnestness of spirit. If you have
hope, this will make you
cheerful. Do not give up if trials come;
and keep on praying. If any of
the saints are in need you must share
with them; and you should
make hospitality you special care.
Bless those who persecute you: never curse
them, bless them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice and be
sad with those in sorrow, Treat
everyone with equal kindness; never be
condescending but make real
friends with the poor. Do not allow yourself
to become self-satisfied.
Never repay evil with evil but let everyone
see that you are interested
only in the highest ideals. Do all you
can to live at peace with
everyone.
This is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the first letter of St Paul
to the Corinthians.
The body is not meant for fornication;
it is for the Lord, and the Lord
for the body. God, who raised the Lord
from the dead, will by his power
raise us up too.
You know, surely, that your bodies are
members making up the
body of Christ. But anyone who is joined
to the Lord is one spirit with
him.
Keep away from fornication. All the other
sins are committed
outside the body; but to fornicate is
to sin against your own body. Your
body, you know, is the temple of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you since
you received him from God. You are not
your own property: you have
been bought and paid for. That is why
you should use your body for
the glory of God.
This is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the first letter of St Paul
to the Corinthians.
Be
ambitious for the higher gifts. And I
am going to show you a way that is better
than any of them. If I have all the eloquence
of men or angels, but speak without love,
I am simply a gong booming of a cymbal
clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy,
understanding all the mysteries there
are, and knowing everything, and if I
have faith in all its fullness, to move
mountains, but without love, then I am
nothing at all. If I give away all that
I possess, piece by piece, and even if
I let them take my body to burn it, but
am without love, it will do me no good
whatever. Love is always patient and kind;
it is never rude or selfish; it does not
take offence, and is not resentful. Love
takes no pleasure in other people's sins
but delights in the truth; it is always
ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and
to endure whatever comes. Love does not
come to an end.
This
is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the letter of St Paul to
the Ephesians
Follow Christ by loving as he loved you,
giving himself up in our
place. Give way to one another in obedience
to Christ. Wives should
regard their husbands as they regard the
Lord, since as Christ is head
of the Church and saves the whole body,
so is a husband the head of
his wife; and as the Church submits to
Christ, so should wives to their
husbands, in everything. Husbands should
love their wives just as
Christ loved the Church and sacrificed
himself for her to make her
holy. He made her clean by washing her
in water with a form of
words, so that when he took her to himself
she would be glorious, with
no speck or wrinkle or anything like that,
but holy and faultless. In
the same way, husbands must love their
wives as they love their own
bodies; for a man to love his wife is
for him to love himself. A man
never hates his own body, but he feeds
it and looks after it; and that is
the way Christ treats the Church, because
it is his body - and we are
its living parts. For this reason, a man
must leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife, and
the two will become one body.
This mystery has many implications; but
I am saying it applies to
Christ and the Church. To sum up; you
too, each one of you, must love
his wife as he loves himself; and let
every wife respect her husband.
This is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the letter of St Paul to
the Colossians
You
are God's chosen race, his saints; he
loves you, and you should be clothed in
sincere compassion, in kindness and humility,
gentleness and patience. Bear with one
another; forgive each other as soon as
a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven
you; now you must do the same.
Over all these clothes, to keep them together
and complete them, put on love. And may
the peace of Christ reign in your hearts,
because it is for this that you were called
together as parts of one body. Always
be thankful. Let the message of Christ,
in all its richness, find a home with
you. Teach each other, and advise each
other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in
your hearts sing psalms and hymns and
inspired songs to God and never say or
do anything except in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
This
is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the first letter of St Peter
Wives should be obedient to their husbands.
Then, if there are some
husbands who have not obeyed the word,
they may find themselves
won over, without a word spoken, by the
way their wives
behave, when they see how faithful and
conscientious they are. Do not
dress up for show: doing up your hair,
wearing gold bracelets and fine
clothes; all this should be inside, in
a person's heart, imperishable: the
ornament of a sweet and gentle disposition
- this is what is precious in
the sight of God. That was how the holy
women of the past dressed
themselves attractively - they hoped in
God and were tender and
obedient to their husbands; like Sarah,
who was obedient to Abraham,
and called him her lord. You are now her
children, as long as you live
good lives and do not give way to fear
or worry.
In the same way, husbands must always
treat their wives with
consideration in their life together,
respecting a woman as one who,
though she may be the weaker partner,
is equally an heir to the life of
grace. This will stop anything from coming
in the way of your prayers.
Finally: you should all agree among yourselves
and be sympathetic;
love the brothers, have compassion and
be self - effacing. Never
pay back one wrong with another one; instead,
pay back with a
blessing. That is what you are called
to do, so that you inherit a
blessing yourself.
This is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the first letter of St John
My children,
our love is not to be just words or mere
talk,
but something real and active
only by this can we be certain
that we are children of the truth
and be able to quieten our conscience
in his presence,
what ever accusations it may raise against
us,
because God is greater than our conscience
and he knows everything.
My dear people,
if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience,
we need not be afraid in God's presence
and whatever we ask him,
we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son
Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.
This is the word of the Lord.
A
reading from the first letter of St John
My dear people,
let us love one another
since love comes from God
and everyone who loves is begotten by
God and knows God.
Anyone who fails to love can never have
known God,
because God is love.
God's love for us was revealed
when God sent into the world his only
Son
so that we could have life through him;
this is the love I mean:
not our love for God
but God's love for us when he sent his
Son
to be tbe sacrifice that takes our sins
away.
My dear People ,
since God has loved us so much,
we too should love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.
This is the word of the Lord.