Daily Mass Readings for September 12, 2024: Gospel — Lc 6, 27-38

¹ With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 7 :¹ Now with regard to the issues you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ² But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with his own wife and each woman with her own husband. ³ A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. ⁴ It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then resume your relationship, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷ I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that. ⁸ To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am. ⁹ But if they do not have self-control, let them get married. For it is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire. 1 ⁰ To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord—a wife should not divorce a husband 1 ¹ (but if she does, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband), and a husband should not divorce his wife. 1 ² To the rest I say—I, not the Lord—if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her. 1 ³ And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is happy to live with her, she should not divorce him. 1 ⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified because of the wife, and the unbelieving wife because of her husband. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 1 ⁵ But if the unbeliever wants a divorce, let it take place. In these circumstances the brother or sister is not bound. God has called you in peace. 1 ⁶ For how do you know, wife, whether you will bring your husband to salvation? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will bring your wife to salvation? 1 ⁷ Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches. 1 ⁸ Was anyone called after he had been circumcised? He should not try to undo his circumcision. Was anyone called who is uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 1 ⁹ Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Instead, keeping God’s commandments is what counts. 2 ⁰ Let each one remain in that situation in life in which he was called. 2 ¹ Were you called as a slave? Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity. 2 ² For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ’s slave. 2 ³ You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. 2 ⁴ In whatever situation someone was called, brothers and sisters, let him remain in it with God. 2 ⁵ With regard to the question about people who have never married, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy. 2 ⁶ Because of the impending crisis I think it best for you to remain as you are. 2 ⁷ The one bound to a wife should not seek divorce. The one released from a wife should not seek marriage. 2 ⁸ But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face difficult circumstances, and I am trying to spare you such problems. 2 ⁹ And I say this, brothers and sisters: The time is short. So then those who have wives should be as those who have none, 3 ⁰ those with tears like those not weeping, those who rejoice like those not rejoicing, those who buy like those without possessions, 3 ¹ those who use the world as though they were not using it to the full. For the present shape of this world is passing away. 3 ² And I want you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 3 ³ But a married man is concerned about the things of the world, how to please his wife, 3 ⁴ and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how to please her husband. 3 ⁵ I am saying this for your benefit, not to place a limitation on you, but so that without distraction you may give notable and constant service to the Lord. 3 ⁶ If anyone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the bloom of youth and it seems necessary, he should do what he wishes; he does not sin. Let them marry. 3 ⁷ But the man who is firm in his commitment, and is under no necessity but has control over his will, and has decided in his own mind to keep his own virgin, does well. 3 ⁸ So then, the one who marries his own virgin does well, but the one who does not, does better. 3 ⁹ A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes (only someone in the Lord). 4 ⁰ But in my opinion, she will be happier if she remains as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God! 1 1 :¹ Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. ² I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. ³ But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. ⁴ Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. ⁵ But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. ⁶ For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. ⁷ For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. ⁸ For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. ⁹ Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. 1 ⁰ For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 1 ¹ In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 1 ² For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. 1 ³ Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 1 ⁴ Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, 1 ⁵ but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 1 ⁶ If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. 1 ⁷ Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 1 ⁸ For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 1 ⁹ For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. 2 ⁰ Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. 2 ¹ For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. 2 ² Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this! 2 ³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, 2 ⁴ and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 2 ⁵ In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 2 ⁶ For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 2 ⁷ For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 2 ⁸ A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. 2 ⁹ For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. 3 ⁰ That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. 3 ¹ But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. 3 ² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. 3 ³ So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 3 ⁴ If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come. 1 2 :¹ With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led. ³ So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴ Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. ⁷ To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all. ⁸ For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 1 ⁰ to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 1 ¹ It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things. 1 ² For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body—though many—are one body, so too is Christ. 1 ³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. 1 ⁴ For in fact the body is not a single member, but many. 1 ⁵ If the foot says, “Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 1 ⁶ And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 1 ⁷ If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell? 1 ⁸ But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided. 1 ⁹ If they were all the same member, where would the body be? 2 ⁰ So now there are many members, but one body. 2 ¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” 2 ² On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, 2 ³ and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity, 2 ⁴ but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, 2 ⁵ so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another. 2 ⁶ If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it. 2 ⁷ Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it. 2 ⁸ And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues. 2 ⁹ Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? 3 ⁰ Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they? 3 ¹ But you should be eager for the greater gifts.And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison. 1 3 :¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. ⁶ It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. ⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 1 ⁰ but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. 1 ¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. 1 ² For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 1 ³ And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.