First Reading

Reading from the letter of the Apostle Saint Paul to the Ephesians

Ephesians 4, 1-7. 11-13

Brothers and sisters: I, Paul, a prisoner for the cause of the Lord, urge you to lead a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be always humble and kind; be understanding and bear with one another in love; strive to remain united in the Spirit with the bond of peace.

For there is only one body and one Spirit, just as there is only one hope in the calling you have received. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who reigns over all, works through all, and lives in all.

Each of us has received grace according to the measure in which Christ has given it. He is the one who appointed some to be apostles; others, to be prophets; others, to be evangelists; others, to be pastors and teachers. And this, to equip the faithful, so that, by properly carrying out their task, they may build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature people, attaining in all its dimensions the fullness of Christ.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 9, 9-13

At that time, Jesus saw a man named Matthew, sitting at his tax collector’s table, and said to him: «Follow me.» He got up and followed him.

Later, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners also sat down to eat with Jesus and his disciples. Seeing this, the Pharisees asked the disciples: «Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?» Jesus heard them and said to them: «It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Go, then, and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.»