First Reading
The Lord God called to the man. "Where are you?" he asked. "I heard the sound of you
in the garden," he replied "I was afraid because I was naked so I hid." "Who told you
that you were naked?" he asked "Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to
eat?" The man replied, "It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and
I ate it." Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What is this you have done?" The
woman replied, "The serpent tempted me and I ate."
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, be accursed
beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day
of your life. I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your
offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel."
Second Reading
As we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and
therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who
raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side
and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is
multiplied among the people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.
That is why there is no weakening on our part, and instead, though this outer man of
ours may be falling into decay, the inner man is renewed day by day. Yes, the troubles
which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the carrying of a weight of
eternal glory which is out of all proportion to them. And so we have no eyes for things
that are visible, but only for things that are invisible; for visible things last only for a
time, and the invisible things are eternal.
For we know that when the tent that we live in on earth is folded up, there is a house
built by God for us, an everlasting home not made by human hands, in the heavens.
Gospel
Jesus went home with his disciples, and such a crowd collected that they could not
even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him,
convinced he was out of his mind.
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, "Beelzebul is in him,"
and, "It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out." So he called them to
him and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan! If a kingdom is
divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against
itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is
divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into
a strong man's house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first.
Only then can he burgle his house.
I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let
anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is
guilty of an eternal sin." This was because they were saying, "An unclean spirit is in
him."
His mother and brothers now arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking
for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him,
"Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you." He replied, "Who
are my mother and my brothers?" And looking round at those sitting in a circle about
him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God,
that person is my brother and sister and mother."
