First Reading

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

Ephesians 4, 7. 11-16

Brothers and sisters: Each of us has received grace in the measure that Christ has given it. He is the one who granted some to be apostles; others, to be prophets; others, to be evangelizers; 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 to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Thus, we will no longer be like children, tossed back and forth by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, at the mercy of evil and cunning men who lead others into error through deceit. On the contrary, living sincerely in love, we will grow in every way, united to him who is the head: Christ. From him, the whole body receives its organization, its cohesion and its life, according to the proper activity of each of its parts, and so the body grows and builds itself up through love.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke

Luke 13, 1-9

At that time, some men came to see Jesus and told him that Pilate had ordered the killing of some Galileans while they were offering their sacrifices. Jesus made this comment to them: “Do you think that those Galileans, because this happened to them, were more sinful than all the other Galileans? Certainly not; and if you do not repent, you will perish in a similar way. And those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the other inhabitants of Jerusalem? Certainly not; and if you do not repent, you will perish in a similar way.”

Then he told them this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; he went to look for figs and did not find any. So he said to the gardener: ‘Look, for three years now I have come looking for figs on this fig tree and have not found any. Cut it down. Why should it use up the soil?’ The gardener replied: ‘Lord, leave it alone for one more year; I will dig around it and fertilize it, to see if it bears fruit. If not, then next year I will cut it down.’”