Reading 1, Wisdom 13:1-9
1 Yes, naturally stupid are all who are unaware of God, and who, from good things seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is, or, by studying the works, have not recognised the Artificer.
2 Fire, however, or wind, or the swift air, the sphere of the stars, impetuous water, heaven’s lamps, are what they have held to be the gods who govern the world.
3 If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken these for gods, let them know how much the Master of these excels them, since he was the very source of beauty that created them.
4 And if they have been impressed by their power and energy, let them deduce from these how much mightier is he that has formed them,
5 since through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author.
6 Small blame, however, attaches to them, for perhaps they go astray only in their search for God and their eagerness to find him;
7 familiar with his works, they investigate them and fall victim to appearances, seeing so much beauty.
8 But even so, they have no excuse:
9 if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge to be able to investigate the world, how have they been so slow to find its Master?
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 19:2-3, 4-5
2 day discourses of it to day, night to night hands on the knowledge.
3 No utterance at all, no speech, not a sound to be heard,
4 but from the entire earth the design stands out, this message reaches the whole world. High above, he pitched a tent for the sun,
5 who comes forth from his pavilion like a bridegroom, delights like a champion in the course to be run.
Gospel, Luke 17:26-37
26 ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of man.
27 People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
28 It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
29 but the day Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all.
30 It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of man to be revealed.
31 ‘When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
33 Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.
34 I tell you, on that night, when two are in one bed, one will be taken, the other left;
35 when two women are grinding corn together, one will be taken, the other left.’
36 * [17:36] The inclusion of Lk 17:36, “There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,” in some Western manuscripts appears to be a scribal assimilation to Mt 24:40. (USCCB)
37 The disciples spoke up and asked, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’
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