Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 40:2, 3, 4, 18
Second Reading: Hebrews 12:1-4
Gospel: Luke 12:49-53

First Reading
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
In those days:The officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. Ebed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king, “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 40:2, 3, 4, 18
R. Lord, make haste to help me!

I waited, I waited for the Lord, and he stooped down to me; he heard my cry.
R. Lord, make haste to help me!

He drew me from the deadly pit, from the miry clay. He set my feet upon a rock, made my footsteps firm.
R. Lord, make haste to help me!

He put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God. Many shall see and fear and shall trust in the Lord.
R. Lord, make haste to help me!

Wretched and poor though I am, the Lord is mindful of me. You are my rescuer, my help; O my God, do not delay.
R. Lord, make haste to help me!

Second Reading
Hebrews 12:1-4
Brethren:Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

The word of the Lord.

Gospel
Luke 12:49-53
At that time:Jesus said to his disciples, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

The Gospel of the Lord.