Sunday between 25 September and 1 October    

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading - Ezekiel 18.21-25

A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. When the righteous turn away from all that is good, and instead practice wickedness, their former good deeds will be forgotten, and they will die in their wickedness, says the Lord. But if the wicked turn away from the wrongs they have done, and instead practice righteousness, doing all that is good, their former wickedness will not be held against them, and they will surely live, says the Lord. I hear the people of Israel say that in this, the Lord is unfair. But the Lord says this: I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wickedness and live. This is the word of the Lord.

Second Reading - Philippians 2.1-11

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians. You already know the confidence, support and encouragement, of the love of Christ, and of fellowship together in the Spirit. So make my joy complete by being united in one purpose, one heart, one love, and one mind. Let there be no selfish ambition, but in humility, let each of you treat others as better than yourself; looking not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let Christ Jesus be your example. He did not regard his equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. Born in human form, he humbled himself, in faithful obedience, even to death on the cross.

And now, God has highly exalted him, and has given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, all shall bow down, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This is the word of the Lord.

Gospel - Matthew 21.23-32

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Jesus was teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. The chief priests, and the elders of the people, demanded, ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Let me ask you a question. Was John’s call to baptism a message from God, or was it only from John’s own mind?’ And they argued with one another, saying, ‘We cannot say that John’s call to baptism was a message from God, because we rejected John. And we cannot say that it came only from John’s own mind, because the people regard John as a prophet, and they would turn against us.’ So they said to Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ Jesus said to them, ‘And neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’ And Jesus told them this parable. ‘A man told his two sons to go and work in the vineyard. One said he would go, but never arrived. The other refused to go, but then changed his mind, and went. In the same way, people that you condemn responded to John’s call to repentance, when you rejected it. And they are now entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.’ This is the Gospel of the Lord.