May 21st, 2004, Tuesday of the seventh week of ordinary time.

A reading from the letter of St. James.

Beloved, where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?

Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?

You covet but do not possess.

You kill and envy but you cannot obtain, you fight and wage war.

You do not possess because you do not ask.

You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

Adulterers, do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God?

Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Or do you suppose that the Scripture speaks without meaning when it says,

the Spirit that He has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy,

but he bestows a greater grace.

Therefore it says God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he

will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.

Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep,

let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. The word of the Lord. The responseorial psalm.

The response is,

Throw your cares on the Lord,

and he will support you.

And I say,

...