TODAYS READING

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Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1 2 THES 2:1-3A, 14-17

We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly,
or to be alarmed either by a \”spirit,\” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way.

To this end he has also called you through our Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught,
either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them

in every good deed and word.

Psalm PS 96:10, 11-12, 13

The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Alleluia HEB 4:12
Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Matt 23:1-36

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses
Therefore do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you but do not follow their example For they preach but they do not practice
b They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on peopleā€™s shoulders but they will not lift a finger to move them
All their works are performed to be seen They widen their belts and lengthen their tassels
They love places of honor at banquets seats of honor in synagogues
greetings in marketplaces and the salutation Rabbi
As for you do not be called Rabbi You have but one teacher and you are all brothers
Call no one on earth your father you have but one Father in heaven.


Do not be called the unrighteous Master you have but one Master and Chief the Messiah
The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled but whoever humbles so as not to boast as they do to; be humbled and you will be will be raised up

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings You do not enter yourselves nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites You traverse sea and land to make one convert and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves
Woe to you blind guides who say If one swears by the temple it means nothing but if one swears by the gold of the temple one is obligated


Blind fools which is greater the gold or the temple that made the gold sacred
And you say If one swears by the altar it means nothing but if one swears by the gift on the altar one is obligated
You blind ones which is greater the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it
one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin and have neglected the weightier things of the law judgment and mercy and fidelity But these you should have done without neglecting the others

Blind guides who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites You cleanse the outside of cup and dish but inside they are full of plunder and self indulgence
Blind Pharisee cleanse first the inside of the cup so that the outside also may be clean
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites You are like whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead menā€™s bones and every kind of filth. Even so on the outside you appear righteous but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous and you say If we had lived in the days of our ancestors we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets blood

Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets now fill up what your ancestors measured out for you, serpents you are brood of vipers how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna
Therefore behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes some of them you will kill and crucify some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and pursue from town to town so that there may come upon you all the righteous blood shed upon earth from the righteous blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar

Amen I say to you all these things will come upon this generation