Entrance
When I cried to the Lord, he heard my voice; he rescued me from those who attack me. Entrust your cares to the Lord, and he will support you.
Collect
Prompt our actions with your inspiration we pray, O Lord, and further them with your constant help, that all we do may always begin from you and by you be brought to completion. Through our Lord..
FIRST READING
“I set before you blessing and curse.”
A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Moses spoke to the people, saying, “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart tums away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and clinging to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 1:1-2.3.4and6(R.40:5ab)
R/. Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Blessed indeed is the man
Who follows not the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stands in the path with sinners,
Nor abides in the company of scorners,
But whose delight is the law of the Lord,
And who ponders his law day and night. R.
He is like a tree that is planted
Beside the flowing waters,
That yields its fruit in due season,
And whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper. R.
Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they, like winnowed chaff,
Shall be driven away by the wind.
For the Lord knows the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked will perish. R
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL Matthew 4: 17
Glory and praise to you, O Christ.
Repent, says the Lord, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ.
GOSPEL
“Whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 9:22-25)
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
The greatest victory a man can have is to conquer himself. Often times we look to the external battles while the real ones lie within. The struggle with pride, lust, greed, slothfulness, envy and jealousy; all these demand some measure of decisiveness from us to choose life or death, prosperity or disaster. If we are courageous enough to live in the light of God’s ways by keeping his commandment does not add to God’s glory, instead, it helps us to live liberated from the clutches of sin and enter into the glory of God’s children, but first, deny yourself! Are you ready to do that? Chose life and you will live and increase.