FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Baruch (Baruch1:15-21)
“We have sinned before the Lord, and have disobeyed him.”
“Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face, as at this day, to us, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to our kings and our princes and our priests and our prophets and our fathers, because we have sinned before the Lord, and have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before us. From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice. So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant at the time when he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each followed the intent of his own wicked heart by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 79:1-2.3-5.8.9 (R. See 9bc)
R/. For the sake of the glory of your name, free us, O Lord.
O God, the nations have invaded your heritage;
they have profaned your holy temple.
They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have handed over the bodies of your servants
as food to feed the birds of heaven,
and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. R/.
They have poured out their blood like water round Jerusalem;
no one is left to bury the dead.
We have become the taunt of our neighbours,
the mockery and scorn of those around us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealous anger burn like fire? R/.
R/. For the sake of the glory of your name, free us, O Lord.
Do not remember against us
the guilt of former times.
Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
for we have been brought very low. R/.
Help us, O God our saviour,
for the sake of the glory of your name.
Free us and forgive us our sins,
because of your name. R/.
ALLELUIA Psalm 95:7d and 8a
Alleluia. Today, harden not your hearts, but listen to the voice of the Lord. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 10:13-16)
“He who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.”
At that time: Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sack cloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable in the judgement for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Prophet Baruch challenges the people about their sons. The phrase “confusion of face” communicates his worries. There is always confusion in one’s life when one deliberately disobeys God. We really make ourselves God’s enemies and this brings about confusion. When we disobey, we move from freedom to bondage. The bondage of sin brings regret, making us strangers before God. We lose our cordial relationship with God. Sin is an act of disobedience in all its ramifications. We begin to regress in many ways. We get lazy about praying or abhor prayer or any spiritual exercise. We also do not desire to go to church because we think God will not listen to us again or even look at us. We must realise that in sin should lead us back to our good God rather than take us away from him.