Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.
Because of these the wrath of God is coming (upon the disobedient).
By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.
But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths.
Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.


Psalms 145(144):2-3.10-11.12-13ab.

Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever.
Great is the LORD and worthy of high praise; God's grandeur is beyond understanding.
All your works give you thanks, O LORD and your faithful bless you.
They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your great works,

Making known to all your power, the glorious splendor of your rule.
Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in every word, and faithful in every work.
Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in every word, and faithful in every work.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:20-26.

And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.



Commentary of the day

Blessed Guerric of Igny (c.1080-1157), Cistercian abbot
Sermon for All Saints, 6-7 ; SC 202 (trans. ©Cistercian Fathers series, 34)

"Blessed are you who are poor... But woe to you who are rich"

When our Lord was proclaiming the blessedness of the poor he was correct in saying that the kingdom of heaven is theirs, not that it will be theirs... How near must they be to the kingdom of God if they already possess and carry within their hearts their own King. To serve this King is to reign... Worldly men may quarrel among themselves about the allotment of the inheritance that they expect in this life; "Lord, it is you who are my portion and my cup" (Ps 16[15],5). Let them fight among themselves and see which of them needs the most pity; for my part, I envy them none of those things for which they are struggling. My soul and I, «we shall take our delight in the Lord" (Ps 104[103],34).

o wonderful Inheritance of the poor! 0 blessed Possession of those who possess nothing! You provide us not only with all that we need; you overflow, giving all glory; you abound, giving to all happiness and joy, like «the measure in a man's lap, overflowing on every side» (cf. Lk 6,38)...

0 you poor... let your souls glory in their humility and scorn all the lofty dignities of the world... The world of eternity stands ready for you, and would you prefer the world of fleeting things, things with no more substance than dreams?... How wretched are they who... by the practice of blessed poverty, have become honorable in the sight of heaven, remarkable in the sight of the world, and to include all, terrible in the sight of hell, but who have subsequently become so blinded that they have come to look upon their poverty as misery and their humility as cowardice. In their desire to become rich they have but fallen into the snares of temptation held out to them by the devil when they were lords of all creation!... But to you, brethren, who look upon your poverty as a friend, and find your pleasure in humility of spirit, to you Truth un­changeable gives the certainty of possessing the kingdom of heaven. He declares it belongs to you and he guards it safe, laid up in readiness for you.