Readings
for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
First
Reading: A reading from the book of Wisdom
That
night had been foretold to our ancestors,
so that:
once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in,
they would joyfully take courage.
This was the expectation of your people,
the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies;
for by the same act with which you took your vengeance on our foes
you made us glorious by calling us with you.
The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret
and this divine pact they struck with one accord:
that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike;
and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.
The
word of the Lord.
Second
Reading: A reading from the letter to the Hebrews
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope
for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain
unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set
out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his
descendents, and that he set out without knowing where he was
going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land,
and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who
were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents
while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.
It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of
being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that
he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of
this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead
himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of
heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.
The
word of the Lord
Gospel: A reading from
the holy Gospel according to Luke
Jesus said to his disciples: 'See that you
are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men
waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open
the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom
the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will
put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may
be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those
servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this,
that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come,
he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house.
You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour
you do not expect.'
The Gospel of the Lord.
