Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 22, 2021

Saints

Daily Readings:

  • First Reading

    Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18

    1Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphra'tes, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 15And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." 16Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

  • Responsorial Psalm

    Psalms 34:2-3, 16-21

    1I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad. 15The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. 16The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. 19Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

  • Second Reading

    Ephesians 5:21-32

    21Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. 25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church;

    OR

    Ephesians 5:2, 25-32

    2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church;

  • Gospel

    John 6:60-69

    60Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you that do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. 65And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." 66After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. 67Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."