5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Job spoke and said:
“Truly, the life of man on earth is hard labor,
he spends his days like a hired worker.
Like a slave longing for shade,
like a laborer waiting for his wages,
for months my lot has been nothingness,
I am allotted only nights of misery.
Hardly have I lain down when I say:
‘When shall I get up?’
The evening drags on endlessly:
I am consumed by nightmares until dawn.
My days fly by faster than a weaver’s shuttle,
they come to an end for lack of thread.
Remember, Lord: my life is but a breath,
my eyes will never again see happiness.”

– The word of the Lord.

It is good to celebrate our God,
it is beautiful to sing his praise:
he heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.

He counts the number of the stars,
he gives each one a name;
he is great, he is mighty, our Master:
no one has measured his understanding.

The Lord lifts up the humble
and brings the wicked down to the ground.
Raise a song of thanks to the Lord,
play music on the lyre for our God!

Brothers and sisters,
to proclaim the Gospel
is not for me a reason for pride
it is a necessity imposed on me.
Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!
Of course, if I do it of my own accord,
I deserve a reward.
But I do not do it of my own accord,
it is a mission entrusted to me.
So what is my reward?
It is to proclaim the Gospel
without seeking any material gain,
and without using my rights as a preacher of the Gospel.
Yes, free in regard to all,
I made myself a slave to all
in order to win over as many as possible.
With the weak, I became weak,
to win the weak.
I have become all things to all people
so that by all possible means I might save some.
And I do all this for the sake of the Gospel,
so that I too may share in it.

– The word of the Lord.

At that time,
right after leaving the synagogue at Capernaum,
Jesus and his disciples went, with James and John,
to the house of Simon and Andrew.
Now, Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed,
she had a fever.
At once, they told Jesus about her.
Jesus approached,
took her by the hand
and helped her up.
The fever left her,
and she began to serve them.

That evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were sick
or possessed by demons.
The whole town gathered at the door.
He healed many people afflicted with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons;
he did not allow the demons to speak,
because they knew who he was.

The next morning, very early before dawn,
Jesus got up and left the house,
went off to a deserted place,
and there he prayed.
Simon and his companions went out searching for him.
When they found him, they said,
“Everyone is looking for you.”
Jesus said to them,
“Let us go on to the neighboring villages,
that I may proclaim the Gospel there also;
for that is why I have come.”

And he went throughout all Galilee,
proclaiming the Gospel in their synagogues,
and casting out demons.

– Let us acclaim the word of God.