Monday, December 14, 2020

St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch,
St. Addai, Bishop of Edessa,
St. Maruthas, Bishop of Niphigerd

Wisdom 5:1-8
Jeremiah 6:16-21
I Corinthians 4:9-16
Mark 9:32-36

Wisdom 5:1-8

[1] Then the righteous man will stand with great confidence
in the presence of those who have afflicted him,
and those who make light of his labors.
[2] When they see him, they will be shaken with dreadful fear,
and they will be amazed at his unexpected salvation.
[3] They will speak to one another in repentance,
and in anguish of spirit they will groan, and say,
[4] “This is the man whom we once held in derision
and made a byword of reproach — we fools!
We thought that his life was madness
and that his end was without honor.
[5] Why has he been numbered among the sons of God?
And why is his lot among the saints?
[6] So it was we who strayed from the way of truth,
and the light of righteousness did not shine on us,
and the sun did not rise upon us.
[7] We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,
and we journeyed through trackless deserts,
but the way of the Lord we have not known.
[8] What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?

Jeremiah 6:16-21

[16] Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, `We will not walk in it.’
[17] I set watchmen over you, saying,
`Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, `We will not give heed.’
[18] Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
[19] Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing evil upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
because they have not given heed to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
[20] To what purpose does frankincense come to me from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
[21] Therefore thus says the LORD:
`Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

I Corinthians 4:9-16

[9] For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.
[10] We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
[11] To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless,
[12] and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
[13] when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things.
[14] I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
[15] For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
[16] I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

Mark 9:32-36

[32] But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.
[33] And they came to Caper’na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
[34] But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest.
[35] And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
[36] And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them,

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is copyright © National Council of Churches of Christ in America