Responsorial Psalm
But let the righteous be glad and exult before God;
let them sing to God and shout for joy.
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
open the way to him who rides upon the clouds;
the Lord is his name. Rejoice in his presence.
Father of orphans and protector of widows
- such is our God in his holy dwelling.
He gives shelter to the homeless,
sets the prisoners free,
but keeps the rebels in their jail.
Then you gave a rain of blessings to comfort
your weary children.
Your people found a dwelling and in your mercy,
O God, you provided for the needy.
2nd. READING (Heb 12, 18-19.22.24)
Remember your initiation. There was no material presence nor heat of a blazing fire,
darkness and gloom and storms... blasts of trumpets or such a voice that the people
pleaded that no further word be spoken. But you came near to Mount Zion, to the city
of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem with its innumerable angels. You have
come to the solemn feast, the assembly of the firstborn of God, whose names are
written in heaven. There is God, Judge of all, with the spirits of the upright brought to
perfection. There is Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.
Gospel
One Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and he
was carefully watched. Jesus then told a parable to the guests, for he had noticed how
they tried to take the places of honour. And he said, "When you are invited to a
wedding party, do not choose the best seat. It may happen that someone more
important than you has been invited, and your host, who invited both of you, will
come and say to you: 'Please give this person your place.' What shame is yours when
you take the lowest seat! Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that
your host may come and say to you: 'Friend, you must come up higher.' And this will
be a great honour for you in the presence of all the other guests. For whoever makes
himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised."
Jesus also addressed the man who had invited him and said, "When you give a lunch
or a dinner, don't invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy
neighbours. For surely they will also invite you in return and you will be repaid.
When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.
Fortunate are you then, because they can't repay you; you will be repaid at the
Resurrection of the upright."
