First Reading

Book of Genesis (Gn 18: 1-15)

Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do? At the appointed time, I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the Terebinth of Mamre,
as Abraham sat in the entrance of his tent,
while the day was growing hot.
Looking up, he saw three men standing nearby.
When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them;
and bowing to the ground, he said:

“Sir, if I may ask you this favor,
please do not go on past your servant.
Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet,
and then rest yourselves under the tree.
Now that you have come this close to your servant,
let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves;
and afterward you may go on your way.”

The men replied,

“Very well, do as you have said.”

Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah,

“Quick, three measures of fine flour!
Knead it and make rolls.”

He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer,
and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it.
Then Abraham got some curds and milk,
as well as the steer that had been prepared,
and set these before them;
and he waited on them under the tree while they ate.

They asked him,

“Where is your wife Sarah?”

He replied,

“There in the tent.”

One of them said,

“I will surely return to you about this time next year,
and Sarah will then have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years,
and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods.
So Sarah laughed to herself and said,

“Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old,
am I still to have sexual pleasure?”

But the LORD said to Abraham:

“Why did Sarah laugh and say,
‘Shall I really bear a child, old as I am?’
Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?
At the appointed time, about this time next year, I will return to you,
and Sarah will have a son.”

Because she was afraid, Sarah dissembled, saying,

“I didn’t laugh.”

But he replied,

“Yes you did.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Luke 1: 46-47, 48-49, 50 and 53, 54-55

The Lord has remembered his mercy.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

“For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.”

“He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.”

“He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 8: 5-17)

Many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,

“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”

He said to him,

“I will come and cure him.”

The centurion said in reply,

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,‘ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,‘ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,‘ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,

“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven,
but the children of the Kingdom
will be driven out into the outer darkness,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion,

“You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.”

And at that very hour his servant was healed.

Jesus entered the house of Peter,
and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand, the fever left her,
and she rose and waited on him.

When it was evening, they brought him many
who were possessed by demons,
and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick,
to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:

‘He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases’.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Genesis (Gn 17: 1, 9-10, 15-22)

Every male among you shall be circumcised. Sarah is to bear you a son.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him
and said:

“I am God the Almighty.
Walk in my presence and be blameless.”

God also said to Abraham:

“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you
that you must keep:
every male among you shall be circumcised.”

God further said to Abraham:

“As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai;
her name shall be Sarah.
I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her.
Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations,
and rulers of peoples shall issue from him.”

Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself,

“Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?
Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?”

Then Abraham said to God,

“Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!”

God replied:

“Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son,
and you shall call him Isaac.
I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact,
to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him.
I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve chieftains,
and I will make of him a great nation.
But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac,
whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year.”

When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 128: 1-2, 3, 4-5

See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 8: 1-4)

If you wish, you can make me clean.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,

“I will do it. Be made clean.”

His leprosy was cleansed immediately.
Then Jesus said to him,

“See that you tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Book of Genesis (Gn 15: 1-12, 17-18)

Abram put his faith in the Lord, and the Lord made a covenant with him.

The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

“Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”

But Abram said,

“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”

Abram continued,

“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”

Then the word of the LORD came to him:

“No, that one shall not be your heir;
your own issue shall be your heir.”

He took him outside and said:

“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,“he added, ”shall your descendants be.”

Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

He then said to him,

“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”

“O Lord GOD,”

he asked,

“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

He answered him,

“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.

When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying:

“To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 105: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations—
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord;
whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 7: 15-20)

By their fruits you will know them.

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.