February 19, 2020

Reading

The Letter of  Saint James  1: 19-27

1:19You know this, my most beloved brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to anger.
1:20For the anger of man does not accomplish the justice of God.
1:21Because of this, having cast away all uncleanness and an abundance of malice, receive with meekness the newly-grafted Word, which is able to save your souls.
1:22So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.
1:23For if anyone is a listener of the Word, but not also a doer, he is comparable to a man gazing into a mirror upon the face that he was born with;
1:24and after considering himself, he went away and promptly forgot what he had seen.
1:25But he who gazes upon the perfect law of liberty, and who remains in it, is not a forgetful hearer, but instead a doer of the work. He shall be blessed in what he does.
1:26But if anyone considers himself to be religious, but he does not restrain his tongue, but instead seduces his own heart: such a one’s religion is vanity.
1:27This is religion, clean and undefiled before God the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulations, and to keep yourself immaculate, apart from this age.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Mark   8: 22-26

8:22And they went to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to him. And they petitioned him, so that he would touch him.
8:23And taking the blind man by the hand, he led him beyond the village. And putting spit on his eyes, laying his hands on him, he asked him if he could see anything.
8:24And looking up, he said, “I see men but they are like walking trees.”
8:25Next he placed his hands again over his eyes, and he began to see. And he was restored, so that he could see everything clearly.
8:26And he sent him to his house, saying, “Go into your own house, and if you enter into the town, tell no one.”