March 14 2021
First Reading
1 Thessalonians 4፡1-12
Therefore, concerning other things, brothers, we ask and beg you, in the Lord Jesus,
that, just as you have received from us the way in which you ought to walk and to please
God, so also may you walk, in order that you may abound all the more. For you know
what precepts I have given to you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God,
your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication, that each one of you
should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passions of
lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God, and that no one should overwhelm or
circumvent his brother in business. For the Lord is the vindicator of all these things, just
as we have preached and testified to you. For God has not called us to impurity, but to
sanctification. And so, whoever despises these teachings, does not despise man, but
God, who has even provided his Holy Spirit within us. But concerning the charity of
brotherhood, we have no need to write to you. For you yourselves have learned from
God that you should love one another. For indeed, you act in this way with all the
brothers in all of Macedonia. But we petition you, brothers, so that you may abound all
the more, to choose work that allows you to be tranquil, and to carry out your business
and to do your work with your own hands, just as we have instructed you, and to walk
honestly with those who are outside, and to desire nothing belonging to another.
Second Reading
1 Peter 1፡13-25
For this reason, gird the waist of your mind, be sober, and hope perfectly in the grace
that is offered to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Be like sons of obedience, not
conforming to the desires of your former ignorance, but in accord with him who has
called you: The Holy One. And in every behavior, you yourself must be holy, for it is
written: "You shall be holy, for I am Holy." And if you invoke as Father him who, without
showing favoritism to persons, judges according to each one's work, then act in fear
during the time of your sojourning here. For you know that it was not with corruptible
gold or silver that you were redeemed away from your useless behavior in the traditions
of your fathers, but it was with the precious blood of Christ, an immaculate and
undefiled lamb, foreknown, certainly, before the foundation of the world, and made
manifest in these latter times for your sake. Through him, you have been faithful to God,
who raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope would
be in God. So, chastise your souls with the obedience of charity, in fraternal love, and
love one another from a simple heart, attentively. For you have been born again, not
from corruptible seed, but from what is incorruptible, from the Word of God, living and
remaining for all eternity. For all flesh is like the grass and all its glory is like the flower of
the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away. But the Word of the Lord endures
for eternity. And this is the Word that has been evangelized to you.
Gospel
Matthew 6:16-23
And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter
their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they
have received their reward. But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash
your face, so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in
secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you. Do not choose to store up for
yourselves treasures on earth: where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break
in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither rust nor
moth consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there also is your heart. The lamp of your body is your eye. If your eye is wholesome,
your entire body will be filled with light. But if your eye has been corrupted, your entire
body will be darkened. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great will that
darkness be!