Sunday between 11 and 17 September
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
First Reading - Isaiah 50.4-9a
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The Lord God
has taught me wisdom,
so that I may speak
words of comfort
to the weary.
Morning by morning,
the Lord God awakens me,
so that I may learn wisdom
as a servant of the Lord.
When I face
persecution
and violence,
I do not hide my face,
or turn away.
Let my accusers
confront me.
I will set my face like flint.
For I know
that the Lord God
brings justice,
and I will not
be defeated
or ashamed.
This is the word of the Lord.
Second Reading - James 3.2-5,7-11
A reading from the letter of James.
Every species on earth
has been tamed,
but no one can tame the tongue, which is
recklessly dangerous,
and full of poison.
The tongue is small,
but has great power,
like the bit
in the mouth
of a horse,
or the rudder
of a great ship,
or the spark
that can set a whole forest ablaze.
With the tongue, we praise
our Lord and Father;
and with the same tongue, we curse
our neighbours, who are made
in the image of God.
Fresh and foul water
do not flow
from the same spring.
And yet
from the same mouth
come both blessings and curses.
We all have many faults,
but if only we could control the tongue,
we would soon have perfect self-control
in everything.
This is the word of the Lord.
Gospel - Mark 8.27-35
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Mark.
Jesus went with his disciples
towards the villages
north of Galilee.
On the way,
he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say
that I am?’
The disciples replied, ‘Some say
John the Baptist;
others say
Elijah, or one of the prophets.’
Jesus asked them, ‘But who do you say
that I am?’
Peter said, ‘You are
the Messiah.’
Jesus warned the disciples
to say this to nobody.
And he began to teach them
that the Son of Man
must undergo
great suffering:
that he would be rejected by the elders,
the chief priests,
and the teachers of the law,
and be killed,
and after three days,
rise again.
Peter took Jesus aside,
and began to rebuke him.
But Jesus turned,
and looked at his disciples,
and rebuked Peter,
saying: ‘Get behind me, Satan;
for your mind
is still set
on the human,
and not the divine.’
Then Jesus
said to the crowd, as well as
to his disciples, ‘If any
one of you
wishes to be
my disciple,
you must deny yourself,
take up your cross,
and follow me.
If you try
to save your life,
you will lose it.
But if you lose your life,
for my sake,
and for the sake of the gospel,
you will find it.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.