Sunday between 11 and 17 February
(if before Ash Wednesday)
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading - Leviticus 13.2-3,45-46;14.2-4,8a,10
A reading from the book of Leviticus.
When the priest
examines
blemishes on the skin,
and finds them to be leprosy,
the person
with the blemishes
will be declared
unclean,
and must
go to live
alone,
in a dwelling
outside the camp,
and must wear torn clothes,
and must leave their hair dishevelled,
and whilst going about,
must cover their mouth,
and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’
But if the person
is brought again to the priest,
and the priest finds
the disease
to be healed,
the person who has been
found to be healed
shall make an offering
of two turtle-doves,
with cedar-wood,
and crimson,
and herbs,
and shall bathe,
and cut their hair,
and wear clean clothes;
and a week later,
shall make
a thanksgiving offering:
a thanksgiving offering
of a lamb.
This is the word of the Lord.
Second Reading - 2 Corinthians 3.1b-6
A reading from the second letter of Paul
to the Corinthians.
We do not need
letters of recommendation,
for you are our letter,
written on our hearts,
to be known and read by all.
You are
a letter from Christ,
commending our ministry,
written not with ink,
but with the Spirit
of the living God;
and not on stone tablets,
but on human hearts.
And in the same way,
we are confident before God, through Christ,
not because of any competence of our own,
but because God has called us, and equipped us,
to be ministers of a new covenant -
a covenant
not of the written law,
that kills,
but of the Spirit,
that gives life.
This is the word of the Lord.
Gospel - Mark 1.40-45
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Mark.
A man with leprosy
knelt before Jesus,
and begged him,
‘If you choose,
you can make me clean.’
Moved with compassion,
Jesus reached out his hand,
and touched him;
and said to him,
‘I do choose.
Be made clean!’
And immediately,
the leprosy left him.
Jesus said to him, ‘Say nothing to anyone;
but go, show yourself to the priest,
and make the offering,
for your cleansing,
that Moses commanded.’
But instead, the man who had been healed
went out
and spoke openly
about what had happened.
And word spread, so that Jesus
could no longer
go into
any town
openly,
but stayed out in the country;
and people came to him
from every town and city.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
