First Reading

Reading from the first letter of the apostle Saint Peter

1 Peter 1, 18-25

Brothers and sisters: You know well that God has rescued you from the futile way of life handed down by your ancestors, not with perishable goods such as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, the lamb without blemish or defect, whom God had chosen before the creation of the world and, out of love for you, has revealed in these last times. Through Christ you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith may also be hope in God.

Therefore, having purified yourselves inwardly by obedience to the truth, which leads to sincere love of the brethren, love one another deeply and from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. Indeed, all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the field: the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Mark

Mark 10, 32-45

At that time, Jesus and his disciples were on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” He said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” They answered, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”