11th Sunday after Pentecost
1 Cor 9: 2-12

A reading - from the First Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters: Although I may not be an apostle for others, I certainly am one for you. You are the very seal of my apostolate in | the | Lord.

My defense against those who criticize me is this: Do we not have the right o eat and drink? Do we not have the right to marry a believing woman like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and | Ce|phas (Se-fas)?

Is it only myself and Barnabas who are forced to work for a living? What soldier in the field pays for his | ra|tions?

Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its yield? What shepherd does not nourish himself with the milk of | his | flock?

You may think the reasons I am giving are merely human ones, but does not the law itself speak of | these | things?

It is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.” Is God concerned here for oxen, or does he not rather say this for | our | sakes?

You can be sure it was written for us, for the plowman should plow in hope and the harvester expect a share in | the | grain:

If we have sown for you in the spirit, it is too much to expect a material harvest | from | you?

If others have this right over you, is not our right even greater? But we have not used | this | right.

On the contrary, we put up with all sorts of hardships so as not to place any obstacle in the way of the gospel - of - Christ.