Mass Reding - 29th, September 2019

FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Amos 6:1. 4-7
Those who sprawl and those who bawl will be exiles.

The almighty Lord says this:
Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion
and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria,
Lying on ivory beds
and sprawling on their divans,
they dine on lambs from the flock,
and stall-fattened veal;
they bawl to the sound of the harp,
they invent new instruments of music like David,
they drink wine by the bowlful,
and use the finest oil for anointing themselves,
but about the ruin of Joseph they do not care at all.
That is why they will be the first to be exiled;
the sprawlers' revelry is over.

The Word of the Lord


Resposorial Psalm     Ps 145
Response:   My soul, give praise to the Lord.
  
1. It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free. Response

2. It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the Lord who loves the just,
the Lord, who protects the stranger. Response

3. He upholds the widow and orphan
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age. Response


SECOND READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Timothy 6:11-16
Do all you have been told until the Lord.

But, as a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious,
filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith
and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you
made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many
witnesses. Now, before God the source of all life and before Christ, who
spoke up as a witness for the truth in front of Pontius Pilate, I put to you
the duty of doing all that you have been told, with no faults or failures, until
the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who at the due time will be revealed
by God, the blessed and only Ruler of all,
the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
who alone is immortal,
whose home is in inaccessible light,
whom no man has seen and no man is able to see:
to him be honour and everlasting power. Amen.

The Word of the Lord


Gospel Acclamation     Jn 10: 27

Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!

or 2 Cor 8
Alleluia, alleluia!
Lord Jesus was rich, but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!


GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 16:19-31
He is being comforted now while you are in agony.

Jesus said to the Pharisees: ‘There was a rich man who used to dress in
purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate
there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill
himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even came
and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the
angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.
‘In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off
with Lazarus in his bosom. So he cried out, “Father Abraham, pity me and
send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I
am in agony in these flames”. “My son,” Abraham replied “remember that
during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the
way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony.
But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop
anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to yours, and to stop any
crossing from your side to ours.”
‘The rich man replied, “Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my
father’s house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that
they do not come to this place of torment too”. “They have Moses and the
prophets,” said Abraham “let them listen to them.”. “Ah no, father
Abraham,” said the rich man “but if someone comes to them from the
dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him, “If they will not listen
either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if
someone should rise from the dead”.’

The Gospel of the Lord