August 23,
2009, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading, Jos 24:1-2a,
15-17, 18b
Joshua
gathered together all the tribes of
Israel
at Shechem,
summoning
their elders, their leaders,
their judges,
and their officers.
When they
stood in ranks before God,
Joshua
addressed all the people:
“If it does
not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today
whom you will serve,
the gods your
fathers served beyond the River
or the gods of
the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling.
As for me and
my household, we will serve the LORD.”
But the people
answered,
“Far be it
from us to forsake the LORD
for the
service of other gods.
For it was the
LORD, our God,
who brought us
and our fathers up out of the land
of Egypt,
out of a state
of slavery.
He performed
those great miracles before our very eyes
and protected
us along our entire journey
and among the
peoples through whom we passed.
Therefore we
also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”
Responsorial
Psalm, Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
R. Taste and
see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless
the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul
glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The LORD has
eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD
confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
When the just
cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is
close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Many are the
troubles of the just one,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him;
he watches
over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.
R.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
2nd Reading, Eph 5:21-32
Brothers and
sisters:
Be subordinate
to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should
be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the
husband is head of his wife
just as Christ
is head of the church,
he himself the
savior of the body.
As the church
is subordinate to Christ,
so wives
should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love
your wives,
even as Christ
loved the church
and handed
himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her
by the bath of water with the word,
that he might
present to himself the church in splendor,
without spot
or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might
be holy and without blemish.
So also
husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves
his wife loves himself.
For no one
hates his own flesh
but rather
nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ
does the church,
because we are
members of his body.
For this
reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined
to his wife,
and the two
shall become one flesh.
This is a
great mystery,
but I speak in
reference to Christ and the church.
or
Brothers and
sisters:
Live in love,
as Christ loved us.
Husbands, love
your wives,
even as Christ
loved the church
and handed
himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her
by the bath of water with the word,
that he might
present to himself the church in splendor,
without spot
or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might
be holy and without blemish.
So also
husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves
his wife loves himself.
For no one
hates his own flesh
but rather
nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ
does the church,
because we are
members of his body.
For this
reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined
to his wife,
and the two
shall become one flesh.
This is a
great mystery,
but I speak in
reference to Christ and the church.
Gospel, Jn
6:60-69
Many of Jesus’
disciples who were listening said,
“This saying
is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus
knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to
them, “Does this shock you?
What if you
were to see the Son of Man ascending
to where he
was before?
It is the
spirit that gives life,
while the
flesh is of no avail.
The words I
have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are
some of you who do not believe.”
Jesus knew
from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one
who would betray him.
And he said,
“For this
reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is
granted him by my Father.”
As a result of
this,
many of his
disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer
accompanied him.
Jesus then
said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter
answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the
words of eternal life.
We have come
to believe
and are
convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
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