Daily Gospel

Mary set outand traveled to the hill country in hasteto a town of Judah,where she entered the house of Zechariahand greeted Elizabeth.When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,the infant leaped in her womb,and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,cried out in a loud voice and said,“Blessed are you among women,and blessed is the fruit of your womb.And how does this happen to me,that the mother of my Lord should come to me?For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,the infant in my womb leaped for joy.Blessed are you who believedthat what was spoken to you by the Lordwould be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;my spirit rejoices in God my Saviorfor 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 meand holy is his Name.He has mercy on those who fear himin every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm,and has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,and has lifted up the lowly.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 Israelfor he has remembered his promise of mercy,the promise he made to our fathers,to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary remained with her about three monthsand then returned to her home.

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginningthe Creator made them male and female and said,For this reason a man shall leave his father and motherand be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?So they are no longer two, but one flesh.Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses commandthat the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?"He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heartsMoses allowed you to divorce your wives,but from the beginning it was not so.I say to you, whoever divorces his wife(unless the marriage is unlawful)and marries another commits adultery."His disciples said to him,"If that is the case of a man with his wife,it is better not to marry."He answered, "Not all can accept this word,but only those to whom that is granted.Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;some, because they were made so by others;some, because they have renounced marriagefor the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,“Lord, if my brother sins against me,how often must I forgive him?As many as seven times?”Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a kingwho decided to settle accounts with his servants.When he began the accounting,a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.Since he had no way of paying it back,his master ordered him to be sold,along with his wife, his children, and all his property,in payment of the debt.At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’Moved with compassion the master of that servantlet him go and forgave him the loan.When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servantswho owed him a much smaller amount.He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,‘Pay back what you owe.’Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’But he refused.Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prisonuntil he paid back the debt.Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,they were deeply disturbed,and went to their master and reported the whole affair.His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,as I had pity on you?’Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturersuntil he should pay back the whole debt.So will my heavenly Father do to you,unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galileeand went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

Jesus said to his disciples:"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.If he does not listen,take one or two others along with you,so that  every fact may be establishedon the testimony of two or three witnesses.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.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.Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earthabout anything for which they are to pray,it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.For where two or three are gathered together in my name,there am I in the midst of them."

The disciples approached Jesus and said,“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.Whoever becomes humble like this childis the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,for I say to you that their angels in heavenalways look upon the face of my heavenly Father.What is your opinion?If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hillsand go in search of the stray?And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over itthan over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Fatherthat one of these little ones be lost."

Jesus said to his disciples:“Amen, amen, I say to you,unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,it remains just a grain of wheat;but if it dies, it produces much fruit.Whoever loves his life loses it,and whoever hates his life in this worldwill preserve it for eternal life.Whoever serves me must follow me,and where I am, there also will my servant be.The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boatand precede him to the other side,while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night,he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply,“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;often he falls into fire, and often into water.I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”Jesus said in reply,“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?How long will I endure you?  Bring the boy here to me.”Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,and from that hour the boy was cured.Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,“Why could we not drive it out?”He said to them, “Because of your little faith.Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,you will say to this mountain,‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Jesus said to his disciples,“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,take up his cross, and follow me.For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.What profit would there be for one to gain the whole worldand forfeit his life?Or what can one give in exchange for his life?For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,and then he will repay each according to his conduct.Amen, I say to you, there are some standing herewho will not taste deathuntil they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,conversing with him.Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here.If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”While he was still speaking, behold,a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;listen to him.”When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrateand were very much afraid.But Jesus came and touched them, saying,“Rise, and do not be afraid.”And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.As they were coming down from the mountain,Jesus charged them,“Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”