Evening Prayer

A Reading from the Wisdom of Ben Sira.

4 One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,    and one who sins does wrong to himself. 5 One who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned, 6    but one who hates gossip has less evil. 7 Never repeat a conversation,    and you will lose nothing at all. 8 With friend or foe do not report it,    and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it; 9 for someone may have heard you and watched you,    and in time will hate you. 10 Have you heard something? Let it die with you.    Be brave, it will not make you burst! 11 Having heard something, the fool suffers birth-pangs    like a woman in labour with a child. 12 Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh, so is gossip inside a fool. 13 Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;    or if he did, so that he may not do it again. 14 Question a neighbour; perhaps he did not say it;    or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it. 15 Question a friend, for often it is slander;    so do not believe everything you hear. 16 A person may make a slip without intending it.    Who has not sinned with his tongue? 17 Question your neighbour before you threaten him; and let the law of the Most High take its course.

A Reading from the Gospel According to Matthew.

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.” 46 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”