July 21, 2014

Reading

The Book of the Prophet Micah    6: 1-4, 6-8

6:1	Listen to what the Lord says: Rise, contend in judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
6:2	Let the mountains listen to the judgment of the Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth. For the judgment of the Lord is with his people, and he will enter into judgment with Israel.
6:3	My people, what have I done to you, or how have I assailed you? Respond to me.
6:4	For I led you out of the land of Egypt, and I freed you from the house of servitude, and I sent before your face Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam.
6:6	What worthy thing might I offer to the Lord, as I bend the knee before God on high? How could I offer holocausts to him, and one year-old calves?
6:7	Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of fat he-goats? How could I give up my firstborn because of my evil deed, the fruit of my womb because of the sin of my soul?
6:8	I will reveal to you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires from you, and how to act with judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk carefully with your God.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Matthew   12: 38-42

12:38	Then certain ones from the scribes and the Pharisees responded to him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
12:39	And answering, he said to them: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign. But a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
12:40	For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
12:41	The men of Nineveh shall arise in judgment with this generation, and they shall condemn it. For, at the preaching of Jonah, they repented. And behold, there is a greater than Jonah here.
12:42	The Queen of the South shall arise in judgment with this generation, and she shall condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, there is a greater than Solomon here.