Introit: Ps 34:1-4, 17 (antiphon: 34:18)
Gradual: [Ps. 91:11; 103:1]
Old Testament: Eccl 5:10-20
Ps 119:9-16 (antiphon: v. 14)
Epistle: Heb 4:1-13 (14-16)
ProperVerse: Mark 10:27b
Gospel: Mk 10:23-31

By the Voluntary Poverty of Christ, We Enter the Kingdom of God
To love and trust in earthly wealth is vanity. For nothing of this earth will last forever, nor can any of it grant eternal life (Eccl. 5:10). But the one who trusts in God is "occupied with joy in his heart" and is able to sleep in peace, "whether he eats little or much," because he knows that the "days of his life" are "the gift of God" (Eccl. 5:12, 18_20). The person who trusts in riches cannot sleep, because he "shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand" (Eccl. 5:15). Therefore, it is difficult "for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 20:23). Indeed, it is impossible for man, yet "all things are possible with God" (Mark 20:27). Thus, the Rich Man, Jesus Christ, has made Himself poor and has gone through "the eye of a needle," through death and the grave, "to enter the kingdom of God" on our behalf (Mark 20:24_25). He is the "great high priest who has passed through the heavens" (Heb. 4:14), so that we may now enter His Sabbath rest by faith in His forgiveness (Heb. 4:3_9).

Introit: Ps 131 (antiphon: 130:1-2)
Gradual: [Ps. 91:11; 103:1]
Old Testament: Jer 31:7-9
Ps 126 (antiphon: v. 5)
Epistle: Heb 7:23-28
ProperVerse: Heb 12:2a
Gospel: Mk 10:46-52

The Lord Jesus Christ Opens Our Eyes to God and Brings Us into His Presence
As He did for blind Bartimeaus, so does the Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy upon you. With His Word of the Gospel, "He is calling you" to Himself, to "take heart," to rise up and live by faith in His forgiveness. He opens your heart and mind to see and know God rightly in Him and to follow Him "on the way" of the cross and into life everlasting (Mark 10:49_52). "He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him," because He is the great High Priest, who offered Himself "once for all" as a sacrifice for sins. Since He is risen from the dead and "exalted above the heavens," He "holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever," and "He always lives to make intercession" for His people (Heb. 7:24_27). Along with that, He gathers the children of God to Himself by the proclamation of His Gospel, even "from the farthest parts of the earth." In mercy He calls them, by the waters of Holy Baptism, "in a straight path in which they shall not stumble," unto life everlasting (Jer. 31:8_9).

Introit: Ps 89:1-4 (antiphon: 9:1)
Gradual: [Rev. 7:14b; Ps. 84:5]
Old Testament: Dt 6:1-9
Ps 119:1-8 (antiphon: v. 5)
Epistle: Heb 9:11-14 (15-22)
ProperVerse: Mark 12:29b
Gospel: Mk 12:28-37

Enter the Kingdom of God by the Love of Christ, Who Has Fulfilled the Law for You/nTrue and lasting life is found only in the Lord our God. Fear, love and trust in Him, therefore, "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." As His Words are spoken to you, so "teach them diligently to your children," and lay them upon your heart "all the days of your life," confessing them as "you walk by the way" (Deut 6:2_7). To love the one true God above all else, and "your neighbor as yourself," is the sum of the whole Law, which is fulfilled in Christ Jesus (Mark 12:29_31). In perfect love for His Father, and in love for His neighbors, He has gone to the cross and poured out His life, "much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices," that we might draw near and enter "the kingdom of God" in Him (Mark 12:33_34). For He is the merciful and great High Priest who "offered Himself without blemish to God," who thus secured an eternal redemption for all "by means of His own blood" (Heb. 9:11_14). "This is the blood of the covenant," which is for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins (Heb. 9:20_22).

Introit: Ps 107:1-2, 41-42 (antiphon: 107:8)
Gradual: [Rev. 7:14b; Ps. 84:5]
Old Testament: 1 Kgs 17:8-16
Ps 146 (antiphon: v. 9a)
Epistle: Heb 9:24-28
ProperVerse: 2 Cor 8:9
Gospel: Mk 12:38-44
\nThe Lord Freely Feeds and Provides for Us with Everything He Has
Those who contribute "large sums" from "out of their abundance" have done very little. They cannot purchase God's favor with their money. But the "poor widow" with her two small coins, who "out of her poverty has put in everything she had," entrusts herself and her life to the mercy of God (Mark 12:41_44). Such faith is not disappointed, for the Lord is faithful, and He provides for His people by His grace. Thus was the poor widow of Zarephath able to feed the prophet Elijah "for many days," as well as herself and her household, "according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah" (1 Kings 17:15_16). He feeds us, too, by His Word, not only with daily bread for this body and life, but unto the life everlasting in Christ Jesus. "By the sacrifice of himself," by the giving of His body and life and all that He had, He has entered "into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf" (Heb. 9:24_26). He is our great High Priest and the Temple of God, as well as the priestly food with which He feeds us.

Introit: Ps 48:11-14 (antiphon: Mark 13:13b)
Gradual: [Rev. 7:14b; Ps. 84:5]
Old Testament: Dn 12:1-3
Ps 16 (antiphon: v. 11b,c)\nEpistle: Heb 10:11-25
ProperVerse: Mark 13:13b
Gospel: Mk 13:1-13
\nThe Crucified and Risen Body of Christ Jesus Is the True Temple of God
Despite its "wonderful stones" and "great buildings," the Jerusalem temple would be torn down, with not one stone left upon another, just as this present world and its kingdoms will come to an end (Mark 13:1_8). But that temple pointed beyond itself to Christ, to His sacrifice upon the cross and to the resurrection of His body as the true Temple of God. In the midst of sin and death, by the proclamation of the Gospel, He now gathers disciples into His body, wherein "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (Mark 13:10_13). For He is "a great priest over the house of God," who "will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." By the pure water of His Baptism, they "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," and by His flesh and blood, they enter the Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:17_22). Thus are His people delivered, "everyone whose name shall be found written in the book." For by the wisdom of His Gospel, He turns "many to righteousness," so that "many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake" to everlasting life (Dan. 12:1_3).