"The Meal in the House of Matthew" -- by James Tissot |
FIRST
READING: Amos 8: 4
- 6, 9 - 12
4
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, and bring the poor of the
land to an end,
5
saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain?
And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make
the ephah small and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false
balances,
6
that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of
sandals, and sell the refuse of the wheat?"
9
"And on that day," says the Lord GOD, "I will make the
sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into
lamentation; I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness on
every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the
end of it like a bitter day.
11
"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "when
I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
12
They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall
run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find
it.
PSALM:
Psalms 119: 2, 10, 20, 30,
40, 131
2
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their
whole heart,
10
With my whole heart I seek thee; let me not wander from thy
commandments!
20
My soul is consumed with longing for thy ordinances at all times.
30
I have chosen the way of faithfulness, I set thy ordinances before
me.
40
Behold, I long for thy precepts; in thy righteousness give me life!
131
With open mouth I pant, because I long for thy commandments.
GOSPEL:
Matthew 9: 9 - 13
9
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at
the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he
rose and followed him.
10
And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and
sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.
11
And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why
does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
12
But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need
of a physician, but those who are sick.
13
Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.'
For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."