Readings

First Reading    Exodus 22:20-26

If you are harsh with the widow, or with the orphan, my anger will flare against you.
The  Lord  said  to  Moses,  ‘Tell the  sons  of  Israel  this:“You  must  not  molest  the
stranger  or  oppress  him,  for  you  lived  as  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  You  must
not  be  harsh  with  the  widow,  or  with  the  orphan;  if  you  are  harsh  with  them,  they
will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and
I shall  kill  you  with  the  sword,  your  own  wives  will  be  widows,  your  own  children orphans.
“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not
play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.
“If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset.
It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he
sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”’

The Word of the Lord

Second Reading   Thessalonians 1:5-10

You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your
instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was
with  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  you  took  to  the  gospel,  in  spite  of  the  great
opposition  all  round  you.  This  has  made  you  the  great  example  to  all  believers  in
Macedonia  and  Achaia  since  it  was  from  you  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  started  to
spread – and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith
in  God  has  spread  everywhere.  We  do  not  need  to  tell  other  people  about  it:  other
people  tell  us  how  we  started  the  work  among  you,  how  you  broke  with  idolatry
when  you  were  converted  to  God  and  became  servants  of  the  real,  living  God;  and
how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come
from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel  Matthew 22:1-14

When  the  Pharisees  heard  that  Jesus  had  silenced  the  Sadducees  they  got  together
and,  to  disconcert  him,  one  of  them  put  a  question,  ‘Master,  which  is  the  greatest
commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all
your  heart,  with  all  your  soul,  and  with  all  your  mind.  This  is  the greatest  and
the first  commandment.  The  second  resembles  it:  You  must  love  your  neighbour  as
yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

The Gospel of the Lord