20th Sunday after Pentecost
Gal 1: 11-19

A reading - from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

Brothers and sisters: I assure you, the gospel I proclaimed to you is no mere human invention. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I schooled in it. It came by Revelation from Je | sus | Christ.

You have heard, I know, the story of my former way of life in Judaism. You know that I went to extremes in persecuting the Church of God and tried to | de | stroy it;

I made progress in Jewish observance far beyond most of my contemporaries, in my excess of zeal to live out all the traditions of my an | ces | tors.

But the time came when he who had set me apart before I was born and called me by his favor chose to reveal his son to me, that I might spread among the Gentiles the good tidings concer | ning | him.

Immediately, without seeking human advisors or even going to Jerusalem to see those who were Apostles before me, I went off to Arabia; later I returned to Damascus. Three years after that I went up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, with whom I stayed fif | teen | days.

I did not meet any other Apostle except James, the brother - of - the - Lord.