FIRST
READING: Amos
2: 6 - 10, 13 - 16
6
Yahweh says this, "Because Israel has sinned, not once but three
times and even more, I will not relent. They sell the just for money
and the needy for a pair of sandals;
7
they tread on the head of the poor and trample them upon the dust of
the earth, while they silence the right of the afflicted; a man and
his father go to the same woman to profane my holy name;
8
they stretch out upon garments taken in pledge, beside every altar;
they take the wine of those they swindle and are drunk in the house
of their God.
9
It was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, whose height was
like the height of the cedar, a people as sturdy as an oak. I
destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.
10
It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty
years in the wilderness to take possession of the land of the
Amorites.
13
Behold, I will crush you to the ground, as a cart does when it is
full of sheaves.
14
The swift shall be unable to flee and the strong man shall lose his
strength. The warrior shall not save himself nor the bowman stand his
ground.
15
The swift of foot shall not escape nor the horseman save himself.
16
Even the most stout-hearted among the warriors shall flee away naked
on that day," says Yahweh.
PSALM:
Psalms 50:
16 - 23
16
But God says this to the wicked: "What right have you to mouth
my laws, or to talk about my covenant?
17
You hate my commands and cast my words behind you.
18
You join a thief when you meet one; you keep company with adulterers.
19
You have a mouth of evil and a deceitful tongue.
20
You speak ill of your brother, and slander your own mother's son.
21
Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was
like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you.
22
Give this a thought, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces
with no one to help you.
23
Those who give with thanks offerings honor me, but the one who walks
blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God."
GOSPEL:
Matthew 8:
18 - 22
18
When he saw the crowd press around him, Jesus gave orders to cross to
the other shore.
19
A teacher of the Law approached him and said, "Master, I will
follow you wherever you go."
20
Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
21
Another disciple said to him, "Lord, let me go and bury my
father first."
22
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their
own dead."
