First Reading

Reading from the book of Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) 3, 1-11

There is a time for everything
and everything we do under the sun has its time.
There is a time to be born and another to die;
one to plant and another to uproot what has been planted.
There is a time to kill and another to heal;
one to destroy and another to build.
There is a time to weep and another to laugh;
one to mourn and another to dance.
There is a time to scatter stones and another to gather them;
one to embrace and another to separate.
There is a time to gain and another to lose;
one to keep and another to throw away.
There is a time to tear and another to mend;
one to be silent and another to speak.
There is a time to love and another to hate;
one to make war and another to make peace.

What profit does the one who labors in his work gain? I have observed all the tasks that God has entrusted to men so that they may be occupied with them.

God has made everything at its proper time and has given the world to man so that he may reflect on it; but man cannot encompass the works of God from beginning to end.

Gospel

Reading from the holy gospel according to Saint Luke

Luke 9, 18-22

One day when Jesus, accompanied by his disciples, had gone to a lonely place to pray, he asked them: «Who do people say that I am?» They answered: «Some say you are John the Baptist; others, that you are Elijah; and others, that you are one of the ancient prophets, who has risen».

He said to them: «And you, who do you say that I am?» Peter answered: «The Messiah of God». Then Jesus strictly ordered them not to tell anyone.

Afterwards he said to them: «It is necessary that the Son of Man suffer much, that he be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, that he be handed over to death and that he rise on the third day».