First Reading

Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5

1But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said: 2Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words? 3Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me. 4Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it? 6Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone, 7when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise? 8Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb, 9when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant? 10I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors. 11And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.” 12Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place? 13And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it? 14The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment. 15From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken. 16Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss? 17Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness? 18Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me. 19Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness? 20In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house. 21So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 138

1Unto the end. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have examined me, and you have known me. 2You have known my sitting down and my rising up again. 3You have understood my thoughts from afar. My path and my fate, you have investigated. 4And you have foreseen all my ways. For there is no word in my tongue. 5Behold, O Lord, you have known all things: the newest and the very old. You have formed me, and you have placed your hand over me. 6Your knowledge has become a wonder to me. It has been reinforced, and I am not able to prevail against it. 7Where will I go from your Spirit? And where will I flee from your face? 8If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I descend into Hell, you are near. 9If I assume my feathers in early morning, and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea, 10even there, your hand will lead me forth, and your right hand will hold me. 11And I said: Perhaps darkness will overwhelm me, and the night will be my illumination, to my delight. 12But darkness will not be impenetrable to you, and night will illuminate like the day: for just as its darkness is, so also is its light. 13For you have possessed my temperament. You have supported me from the womb of my mother.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia — Psalm 103:21

21Bless the Lord, all his hosts: his ministers who do his will.

Gospel

Matthew 18:1-5, 10

1In that hour, the disciples drew near to Jesus, saying, “Whom do you consider to be greater in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And Jesus, calling to himself a little child, placed him in their midst. 3And he said: “Amen I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever will have humbled himself like this little child, such a one is greater in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever shall accept one such little child in my name, accepts me. 6But whoever will have led astray one of these little ones, who trust in me, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be submerged in the depths of the sea. 7Woe to a world that leads people astray! Although it is necessary for temptations to arise, nevertheless: Woe to that man through whom temptation arises! 8So if your hand or your foot leads you to sin, cut it off and cast it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life disabled or lame, than to be sent into eternal fire having two hands or two feet. 9And if your eye leads you to sin, root it out and cast it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to be sent into the fires of Hell having two eyes. 10See to it that you do not despise even one of these little ones. For I say to you, that their Angels in heaven continually look upon the face of my Father, who is in heaven.