Reading 1 Jgs 6:11-24a
The angel
of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrah that belonged to Joash
the Abiezrite. While his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press to
save it from the Midianites, the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, "The
LORD is with you, O champion!" Gideon said to him, "My Lord, if the
LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are his wondrous deeds
of which our fathers told us when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from
Egypt?' For now the LORD has abandoned us and has delivered us into the power
of Midian." The LORD turned to him and said, "Go with the strength
you have and save Israel from the power of Midian. It is I who send you." But
Gideon answered him, "Please, my lord, how can I save Israel? My family is
the lowliest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father's
house." "I shall be with you," the LORD said to him, "and
you will cut down Midian to the last man." Gideon answered him, "If I
find favor with you, give me a sign that you are speaking with me. Do not
depart from here, I pray you, until I come back to you and bring out my offering and set it before you." He answered, "I
will await your return."
So Gideon went off and prepared a kid and a measure of flour in the form of
unleavened cakes. Putting the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he
brought them out to him under the terebinth and presented them. The angel of
God said to him, "Take the meat and unleavened cakes and lay them on this
rock; then pour out the broth." When he had done so, the angel of the LORD
stretched out the tip of the staff he held, and touched the meat and unleavened
cakes. Thereupon a fire came up from the rock that consumed the meat and
unleavened cakes, and the angel of the LORD disappeared from sight. Gideon, now
aware that it had been the angel of the LORD, said, "Alas, Lord GOD, that
I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" The LORD answered him, "Be
calm, do not fear. You shall not die." So Gideon built there an altar to
the LORD and called it Yahweh-shalom.
Responsorial
Psalm Ps 85-9, 11-12, 13-14
R. The
Lord speaks of peace to his people.
I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD–for he proclaims peace To his people,
and to his faithful ones, and to those who put in him their hope.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring
out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase. Justice
shall walk before him, and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Alleluia
2 Cor 8:9
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich so that by his poverty you might
become rich.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mt
19:23-30
Jesus
said to his disciples: "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is
rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel
to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the
Kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly
astonished and said, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them
and said, "For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible." Then
Peter said to him in reply, "We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for
us?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you that you who have
followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of
glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father
or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred
times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last,
and the last will be first."