Responsorial Psalm
I will bless the Lord all my days;
his praise will be ever on my lips.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the lowly hear and rejoice.
But his face is set against the wicked
to destroy their memory from the earth.
The Lord hears the cry of the righteous
and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted
and saves the distraught.
But the Lord will redeem the life of his servants;
none of those who trust in him will be doomed.
2nd. READING (2 Tm 4,6-8.16-18)
As for me the time of sacrifice has arrived, and the moment of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness with which the Lord, the just judge, will
reward me on that day; and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious
coming. At my first hearing in court no one supported me; all deserted me. May the
Lord not hold it against them. But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength to
proclaim the Word fully, and let all the pagans hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's
mouth. The Lord will save me from all evil, bringing me to his heavenly kingdom.
Glory to him for ever and ever. Amen!
Gospel
Jesus spoke the following parable to some persons fully convinced of their own
righteousness, who looked down on others, "Two men went up to the Temple to
pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself
and said: 'I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked,
adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give the tenth of all
my income to the Temple.' In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would
not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying: 'O God, be merciful to me,
a sinner.' I tell you, when this man went down to his house, he had been set right with
God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be raised."
