? Weekday Mass – Westminster Cathedral

Reading 1, First Kings 21:1-16

¹ This is what happened next: Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard close by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria,

² and Ahab said to Naboth, ‘Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it adjoins my palace; I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.’

³ Naboth, however, said to Ahab, ‘Yahweh forbid that I should give you my ancestral heritage!’

⁴ Ahab went home gloomy and out of temper at the words of Naboth of Jezreel, ‘I will not give you my heritage from my ancestors.’ He lay down on his bed and turned his face away and refused to eat.

⁵ His wife Jezebel came to him. ‘Why are you so dispirited,’ she said, ‘that you refuse to eat?’

⁶ He said, ‘I have been talking to Naboth of Jezreel. I said, “Give me your vineyard either for money or, if you prefer, for another vineyard in exchange.” But he said, “I will not give you my vineyard.” ‘

⁷ Then his wife Jezebel said, ‘Some king of Israel you make! Get up, eat and take heart; I myself shall get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.’

⁸ So she wrote a letter in Ahab’s name and sealed it with his seal, sending the letter to the elders and notables of the city where Naboth lived.

⁹ In the letter, she wrote, ‘Proclaim a fast, and put Naboth in a prominent place among the people.

¹⁰ There confront him with a couple of scoundrels who will accuse him as follows, “You have cursed God and the king.” Then take him outside and stone him to death.’

¹¹ The men of Naboth’s city, the elders and notables living in his city, did what Jezebel ordered, as was written in the letter which she had sent him.

¹² They proclaimed a fast and put Naboth in a prominent place among the people.

¹³ The two scoundrels then came and confronted him, and the scoundrels then publicly accused Naboth as follows, ‘Naboth has cursed God and the king.’ He was then taken outside the city and stoned to death.

¹⁴ They then sent word to Jezebel, ‘Naboth has been stoned to death.’

¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, ‘Get up! Take possession of the vineyard which Naboth of Jezreel refused to sell you, for Naboth is no longer alive, he is dead.’

¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel and take possession of it.

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 5:2-3, 5-6, 7

² Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God! To you I pray,

³ Yahweh. At daybreak you hear my voice; at daybreak, I lay my case before you and fix my eyes on you.

⁵ Boasters cannot stand their ground under your gaze. You hate evil-doers,

⁶ liars you destroy; the violent and deceitful Yahweh detests.

⁷ But, so great is your faithful love, I may come into your house, and before your holy temple bow down in reverence of you.

Gospel, Matthew 5:38-42

³⁸ ‘You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.

³⁹ But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well;

⁴⁰ if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

⁴¹ And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him.

⁴² Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.