Daily Gospel

Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prisonon account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.John had said to Herod,“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”Herodias harbored a grudge against himand wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,and kept him in custody.When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,yet he liked to listen to him.She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,gave a banquet for his courtiers,his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.Herodias’ own daughter came inand performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.The king said to the girl,“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”He even swore many things to her,“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,even to half of my kingdom.”She went out and said to her mother,“What shall I ask for?”She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,“I want you to give me at onceon a platter the head of John the Baptist.”The king was deeply distressed,but because of his oaths and the guestshe did not wish to break his word to her.So he promptly dispatched an executioner with ordersto bring back his head.He went off and beheaded him in the prison.He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.The girl in turn gave it to her mother.When his disciples heard about it,they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus told his disciples this parable:“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virginswho took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,brought no oil with them,but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed,they all became drowsy and fell asleep.At midnight, there was a cry,‘Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise,‘Give us some of your oil,for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied,‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you.Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it,the bridegroom cameand those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked.Afterwards the other virgins came and said,‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply,‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake,for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus said to his disciples:“Stay awake!For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.Be sure of this: if the master of the househad known the hour of night when the thief was coming,he would have stayed awakeand not let his house be broken into.So too, you also must be prepared,for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,whom the master has put in charge of his householdto distribute to them their food at the proper time?Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’and begins to beat his fellow servants,and eat and drink with drunkards,the servant’s master will come on an unexpected dayand at an unknown hour and will punish him severelyand assign him a place with the hypocrites,where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

Jesus said,“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 men’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 prophetsand 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 yourselvesthat you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

Jesus said:“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.”

Philip found Nathanael and told him,"We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth."But Nathanael said to him,"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"Philip said to him, "Come and see."Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,"Here is a true child of Israel.There is no duplicity in him."Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him,"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."Nathanael answered him,"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."Jesus answered and said to him,"Do you believebecause I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?You will see greater things than this."And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,you will see heaven opened and the angels of Godascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi andhe asked his disciples,"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply,"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply,"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter,and upon this rock I will build my church,and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciplesto tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,“The scribes and the Phariseeshave 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.They tie up heavy burdens hard to carryand lay them on people’s shoulders,but they will not lift a finger to move them.All their works are performed to be seen.They widen their phylacteries 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 ‘Master’;you have but one master, the Christ.The greatest among you must be your servant.Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,they gathered together, and one of them,a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”He said to him,“You shall 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 is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself.The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a kingwho gave a wedding feast for his son.He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,but they refused to come.A second time he sent other servants, saying,‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,my calves and fattened cattle are killed,and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’Some ignored the invitation and went away,one to his farm, another to his business.The rest laid hold of his servants,mistreated them, and killed them.The king was enraged and sent his troops,destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready,but those who were invited were not worthy to come.Go out, therefore, into the main roadsand invite to the feast whomever you find.’The servants went out into the streetsand gathered all they found, bad and good alike,and the hall was filled with guests.But when the king came in to meet the guestshe saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.He said to him, ‘My friend, how is itthat you came in here without a wedding garment?’But he was reduced to silence.Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet,and cast him into the darkness outside,where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’Many are invited, but few are chosen.”