Mass Readings - Sunday, 01st March 2020

FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Genesis    2:7-9 3:1-7
The creation and sin of our first parents.

The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed
into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and
there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to
spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and
good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil in the middle of the garden.
The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh
God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were
not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman
answered the serpent, ‘We may eat he fruit of the trees in the
garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God
said, “You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death”.’ Then
the serpent said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in
fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will
be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree
was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable
for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and
ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he
ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised
that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make
themselves loin-cloths.

The Word of the Lord


Responsorial Psalm    Ps 50

Response:    Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

1. Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

2. My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned:
what is evil in your sight I have done.

3 . A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

4. Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.



SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to Romans    5:12-19
However great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater

Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and
thus death has spread through the whole human race because
everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law
was given. There was no law and so no one could be accused of
the sin of ‘law-breaking’, yet death reigned over all from Adam to
Moses, even though their sin, unlike that of Adam, was not a matter
of breaking a law.
Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably
outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so
many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming
through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an
abundant free gift. The results of the gift also outweigh the results of
one man’s sin: for after one single fall came judgement with a
verdict of condemnation, now after many falls comes grace with its
verdict of acquittal. If it is certain that death reigned over everyone
as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that
one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who
receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made
righteous. Again, as one man’s fall brought condemnation on
everyone, so the good act of one man brings everyone life and
makes them justified. As by one man’s disobedience many were
made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made
righteous.

The Word of the Lord.


Gospel Acclamation     Mt 4:4

Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes
from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!



GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew    4:1-11
Jesus fasts for forty days and is tempted.

Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he
was very hungry, and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are
the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves’. But he replied,
‘Scripture says: ‘Man does not live on bread alone but on every
word that comes from the mouth of God’.
The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the
parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw
yourself down; for scripture says: ‘He will put you in his angels’
charge, and they will support you on their hands in case you hurt
your foot against a stone’.
Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says: ‘You must not put the Lord your
God to the test’.
Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘I will give you all
these’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me.’ Then Jesus
replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord
your God, and serve him alone.’
Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.

The Gospel of the Lord.