First Reading

The Letter of Saint James (Jas 1: 1-11)

The testing of your faith produces perseverance so that you may be perfect.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters,
when you encounter various trials,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect,
so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,
and he will be given it.
But he should ask in faith, not doubting,
for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea
that is driven and tossed about by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,
since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

The brother in lowly circumstances
should take pride in high standing,
and the rich one in his lowliness,
for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.”
For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass,
its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes.
So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 119: 67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 76

Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.

Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I hold to your promise.

You are good and bountiful;
teach me your statutes.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn your statutes.

The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just,
and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 8: 11-13)

Why does this generation seek a sign?

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,

“Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Leveticus (Lv 13: 1-2, 44-46)

Leper shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

“If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch
which appears to be the sore of leprosy,
he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest,
or to one of the priests among his descendants.
If the man is leprous and unclean,
the priest shall declare him unclean
by reason of the sore on his head.

The one who bears the sore of leprosy
shall keep his garments rent and his head bare,
and shall muffle his beard;
he shall cry out,

‘Unclean, unclean!’

As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean,
since he is in fact unclean.
He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 32: 1-2, 5, 11

I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.

Second Reading

First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 10: 31 — 11 :1)

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Brothers and sisters,
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do everything for the glory of God.
Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or
the church of God,
just as I try to please everyone in every way,
not seeking my own benefit but that of the many,
that they may be saved.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

— The word of the Lord.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

A great prophet has arisen in our midst, God has visited his people.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 1: 40-45)

The leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,

“If you wish, you can make me clean.”

Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,

“I do will it. Be made clean.”

The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him,

“See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

First Book of Kings (1 Kgs 12: 26-32 ; 13: 33-34)

Jeroboam made two calves of gold.

Jeroboam thought to himself:

“The kingdom will return to David’s house.
If now this people go up to offer sacrifices
in the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem,
the hearts of this people will return to their master,
Rehoboam, king of Judah,
and they will kill me.”

After taking counsel, the king made two calves of gold
and said to the people:

“You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough.
Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.
This led to sin, because the people frequented those calves
in Bethel and in Dan.
He also built temples on the high places
and made priests from among the people who were not Levites.
Jeroboam established a feast in the eighth month
on the fifteenth day of the month
to duplicate in Bethel the pilgrimage feast of Judah,
with sacrifices to the calves he had made;
and he stationed in Bethel priests of the high places he had built.

Jeroboam did not give up his evil ways after this,
but again made priests for the high places
from among the common people.
Whoever desired it was consecrated
and became a priest of the high places.
This was a sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam
for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth.

— The word of the Lord.

Resonsorial Psalm

Ps 106: 6-7ab, 19-20, 21-22

Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.

They made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.

They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 8: 1-10)

They ate and were satisfied.

In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat,
Jesus summoned the disciples and said,

“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance.”

His disciples answered him,

“Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”

Still he asked them,

“How many loaves do you have?”

They replied,

“Seven.”

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them
and ordered them distributed also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.

He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

— The Gospel of the Lord.