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First reading: Ecclesiasticus 5:1-10
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Do not give your heart to your money,
or say, ‘With this I am self-sufficient.’
Do not be led by your appetites and energy
to follow the passions of your heart.
And do not say, ‘Who has authority over me?’
for the Lord will certainly be avenged on you.
Do not say, ‘I sinned, and what happened to me?’
for the Lord’s forbearance is long.
Do not be so sure of forgiveness
that you add sin to sin.
And do not say, ‘His compassion is great,
he will forgive me my many sins’;
for with him are both mercy and wrath,
and his rage bears heavy on sinners.
Do not delay your return to the Lord,
do not put it off day after day;
for suddenly the Lord’s wrath will blaze out,
and at the time of vengeance you will be utterly destroyed.
Do not set your heart on ill-gotten gains,
they will be of no use to you on the day of disaster.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-4,6
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Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
He is like a tree that is planted
beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!