First Reading

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

Ephesians 2, 12-22

Brothers and sisters: Remember that before you lived without Christ, you were excluded from the citizenship of Israel and were strangers to the covenants and promises, and had neither hope nor God in this world. But now, united to Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace; he made both Jews and Gentiles one people; he destroyed, in his own body, the barrier that separated them: hatred; he abolished the law, which consisted of commandments and regulations, to create in himself, from the two peoples, one new man, establishing peace, and to reconcile both, made into one body, with God, through the cross, putting to death in himself the hatred.

He came to proclaim the good news of peace, both to you who were far off and to those who were near. Thus, both can approach the Father through the action of one and the same Spirit.

Therefore, you are no longer foreigners or strangers; you are fellow citizens with the saints and belong to the household of God, because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke

Luke 12, 35-38

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Be ready, with your tunic on and your lamps burning. Be like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding, to open the door for him as soon as he arrives and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds watching when he comes. I assure you, he will dress himself to serve, have them recline at the table, and come to wait on them. And if he comes in the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them ready, blessed are those servants.”