Our first reading—taken from the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth chapters of the marvelous book of Sirach, called in older Bibles the book of Ecclesiasticus—has to do with anger, vengeance, and forgiveness, themes that will figure prominently in the preaching of Jesus. “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.”
Mass Readings
Reading 1 – Sirach 27:30 – 28:7
Psalm – Psalm 103:1-12
Reading 2 – Romans 14:7-9
Gospel – Matthew 18:21-35