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.
Oh, let us magnify the Lord,
together let us glorify his name!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
from all my fears he delivered me.
They who look to him are radiant with joy,
their faces never clouded with shame.
When the poor cry out, the Lord hears
and saves them from distress.
2nd. READING (2Cor 5,17-21)
For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him the old things
have passed away; a new world has come. All this is the work of God who in Christ
reconciled us to himself, and who entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.
Because in Christ God reconciled the world with himself, no longer taking into
account their trespasses and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we
present ourselves as ambassadors in the name of Christ, as if God himself makes an
appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the name of
Christ. He had no sin, but God made him bear our sin, so that in him we might share
the holiness of God.
Gospel
Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them
eager to hear what he had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this,
muttering. "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So Jesus told them this
parable: Jesus continued, "There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his
father: 'Give me my share of the estate.' So the father divided his property between
them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for
a distant land where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent
everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he
hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place and was sent to work on a pig
farm. So famished was he that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given
to the pigs, but no one offered him anything. Finally coming to his senses, he said:
'How many of my father's hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to
death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned
against God and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then
as one of your hired servants.' With that thought in mind he set off for his father's
house. He was still a long way off when his father caught sight of him. His father was
so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around
his neck and kissed him. 21The son said: 'Father, I have sinned against Heaven and
before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son...' But the father turned to his
servants: 'Quick! Bring out the finest robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger
and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and kill it. We shall celebrate and have
a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and is
found.' And the celebration began. Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the
fields. As he returned and was near the house, he heard the sound of music and
dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant
answered: 'Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy
about it that he has ordered this celebration and killed the fattened calf.' The elder son
became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The
indignant son said: 'Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I
disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate
with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns after squandering your property
with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.' The father said: 'My son, you are
always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead,
and has come back to life. He was lost and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and
be glad.'"
