Thursday of week 7 in Ordinary Time, or Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

First reading

Ecclesiasticus 5:1-10

Do not delay your return to the Lord

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.

Psalm or canticle

Psalm 1:1-4,6

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.

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.

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.

Gospel

Mark 9:41-50

If your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
‘But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone round his neck. And if your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out. And if your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye should cause you to sin, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm does not die nor their fire go out. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is a good thing, but if salt has become insipid, how can you season it again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.’