Sunday, July 31, 2016
Liturgical Season: 
V The Season of Pentecost
Special Significance: 
XI Sunday after Pentecost
St. Ignatius of Loyola

Mt 18:15-20

A Brother Who Sins.* 15h “If your brother* sins [against you], go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. 16* i If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17j If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.* If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. 18* k Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19* l Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. 20* m For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Lv 19:13-18

13You shall not exploit your neighbor. You shall not commit robbery. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your laborer.j 14* You shall not insult the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

15You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your neighbor justly.k 16You shall not go about spreading slander among your people; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the LORD.

17* You shall not hate any of your kindred in your heart. Reprove your neighbor openly so that you do not incur sin because of that person.l 18Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.m

Jos 23:1-13

Joshua’s Final Plea. 1Many years later, after the LORD had given the Israelites rest from all their enemies round about them, and when Joshua was old and advanced in years,a 2he summoned all Israel, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them: “I am old and advanced in years.b 3You have seen all that the LORD, your God, has done for you against all these nations; for it has been the LORD, your God, who fought for you. 4c See, I have apportioned among your tribes as their heritage the nations that survive, as well as those I destroyed, between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. 5The LORD, your God, will drive them out and dispossess them at your approach, so that you will take possession of their land as the LORD, your God, promised you. 6Therefore be strong and be careful to observe all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, never turning from it right or left,d 7or mingling with these nations that survive among you. You must not invoke their gods by name, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them,e 8but you must hold fast to the LORD, your God, as you have done up to this day. 9At your approach the LORD has dispossessed great and strong nations; not one has withstood you up to this day. 10One of you puts to flight a thousand, because it is the LORD, your God, himself who fights for you,f as he promised you. 11As for you, take great care to love the LORD, your God. 12For if you ever turn away from him and join with the remnant of these nations that survive among you, by intermarrying and intermingling with them,g 13know for certain that the LORD, your God, will no longer dispossess these nations at your approach. Instead they will be a snare and a trap for you, a scourge for your sides and thorns for your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD, your God, has given you.h

Sir 17:24-32

24But to the penitent he provides a way back

and encourages those who are losing hope!

25Turn back to the Lord and give up your sins,

pray before him and make your offenses few.

26Turn again to the Most High and away from iniquity,

and hate intensely what he loathes.

27* Who in Sheol can glorify the Most Highe

in place of the living who offer their praise?

28The dead can no more give praise than those who have never lived;

they who are alive and well glorify the Lord.

29How great is the mercy of the Lord,

and his forgiveness for those who return to him!

30For not everything is within human reach,

since human beings are not immortal.

31Is anything brighter than the sun? Yet it can be eclipsed.

How worthless* then the thoughts of flesh and blood!

32God holds accountable the hosts of highest heaven,

while all mortals are dust and ashes.

Jas 2:14-26

Faith and Works.* 14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?i 15If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?j 17So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. 19You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. 20Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?k 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. 23Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.”l 24See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?m 26For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

1 Cor 14:34-40

34women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says.i 35But if they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home. For it is improper for a woman to speak in the church. 36Did the word of God go forth from you? Or has it come to you alone?

37If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or a spiritual person, he should recognize that what I am writing to you is a commandment of the Lord. 38If anyone does not acknowledge this, he is not acknowledged. 39So, [my] brothers, strive eagerly to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues, 40but everything must be done properly and in order.

Mk 6:7-13

The Mission of the Twelve. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching. 7d He summoned the Twelve* and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8* He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 9They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. 10* He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. 11Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” 12So they went off and preached repentance. 13* They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sicke and cured them.