You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped;/ you were too strong for me, and you triumphed./ All the day I am an object of laughter;/ everyone mocks me.
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
The word of the Lord came to me thus:/ Gird your loins;/ stand up and tell them/ all that I command you./ Be not crushed on their account,/ as though I would leave you crushed before them;/ For it is I this day/ who have made you a fortified city,/ A pillar of iron, a wall of brass,/ against the whole land:/ Against Judah’s kings and princes,/ against its priests and people./ They will fight against you, but not prevail over you,/ for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Brothers and sisters: Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.
