Reading I Wis 7:7-11
I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom
came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison
with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to
her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a
little sand,
and before her, silver is to be
accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the
light,
because the splendor of her never
yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in
her company,
and countless riches at her hands.
Responsorial Psalm Ps
90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R.
(14) Fill us with your love, O Lord,
and we will sing for joy!
Teach
us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return,
O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill
us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us
at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all
our days.
Make us
glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill
us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Let
your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may
the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill
us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Reading II Heb 4:12-13
Brothers
and sisters:
Indeed
the word of God is living and effective,
sharper
than any two-edged sword,
penetrating
even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able
to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No
creature is concealed from him,
but
everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom
we must render an account.
Alleluia Mt 5:3
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed
are the poor in spirit,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 10:17-30 or 10:17-27
As
Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt
down before him, and asked him,
"Good
teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus
answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one
is good but God alone.
You
know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you
shall not commit adultery;
you
shall not steal;
you
shall not bear false witness;
you
shall not defraud;
honor
your father and your mother."
He
replied and said to him,
"Teacher,
all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus,
looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You
are lacking in one thing.
Go,
sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that
statement his face fell,
and he
went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus
looked around and said to his disciples,
"How
hard it is for those who have wealth
to
enter the kingdom of God!"
The
disciples were amazed at his words.
So
Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children,
how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than
for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
They
were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then
who can be saved?"
Jesus
looked at them and said,
"For
human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All
things are possible for God."
Peter
began to say to him,
"We
have given up everything and followed you."
Jesus
said, "Amen, I say to you,
there
is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or
mother or father or children or lands
for my
sake and for the sake of the gospel
who
will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses
and brothers and sisters
and
mothers and children and lands,
with
persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."
OR:
As
Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt
down before him, and asked him,
"Good
teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus
answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one
is good but God alone.
You
know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you
shall not commit adultery;
you
shall not steal;
you
shall not bear false witness;
you
shall not defraud;
honor
your father and your mother."
He
replied and said to him,
"Teacher,
all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus,
looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You
are lacking in one thing.
Go,
sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that
statement his face fell,
and he
went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus
looked around and said to his disciples,
"How
hard it is for those who have wealth
to
enter the kingdom of God!"
The
disciples were amazed at his words.
So
Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children,
how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than
for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
They
were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then
who can be saved?"
Jesus
looked at them and said,
"For
human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All
things are possible for God."