Sunday, 24 August 2025
Sunday, Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Antiphons on p. 1192 and Readings on p. 1196 of the Daily Missal and on p. 952 of the Sunday Missal.
First Reading: Isaiah 66:18-21
Thus says the Lord:
“I know their works and their thoughts,
and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues;
and they shall come and shall see my glory,
and I will set a sign among them.
And from them I will send survivors to the nations,
to Tarshish, Put, and Lud,
who draw the bow,
to Tubal and Javan, to the islands afar off,
that have not heard my fame or seen my glory;
and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations
as an offering to the Lord,
upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters,
and upon mules, and upon dromedaries,
to my holy mountain Jerusalem,
says the Lord,
just as the sons of Israel bring their cereal offering
in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.
And some of them also I will take
for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 117: 1-2 (R. Mark 16:15)
R/. Go to all the world and preach the Gospel.
O praise the Lord, all you nations;
acclaim him, all you peoples!
For his merciful love has prevailed over us;
and the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.
R/. Go to all the world and preach the Gospel.
Second Reading: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters:
Have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?—
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure.
God is treating you as sons;
for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
For the moment all discipline
seems painful rather than pleasant;
later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands
and strengthen your weak knees,
and make straight paths for your feet,
so that what is lame may not be put out of joint
but rather be healed.
Gospel: Luke 13:22-30
At that time:
Jesus went on his way through towns and villages,
teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
And some one said to him,
“Lord, will those who are saved be few?”
And he said to them,
“Strive to enter by the narrow door;
for many, I tell you,
will seek to enter and will not be able.
When once the householder has risen up and shut the door,
you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying,
‘Lord, open to us.’
He will answer you,
‘I do not know where you come from.’
Then you will begin to say,
‘We ate and drank in your presence,
and you taught in our streets.’
But he will say,
‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from;
depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’
There you will weep and gnash your teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves thrust out.
And men will come from east and west,
and from north and south,
and sit at table in the kingdom of God.
And behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”
