Daily Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, August 19, 2014

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 28: 1 - 10

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1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am God, and I sit in the chair of God in the heart of the sea: whereas thou art a man, and not God: and hast set thy heart as if it were the heart of God.

3 Behold thou art wiser than Daniel: no secret is hid from thee.

4 In thy wisdom and thy understanding thou hast made thyself strong: and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.

5 By the greatness of thy wisdom, and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy strength: and thy heart is lifted up with thy strength.

6 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up as the heart of God:

7 Therefore behold, I will bring upon thee strangers the strongest of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy beauty.

8 They shall kill thee, and bring thee down: and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain in the heart of the sea.

9 Wilt thou yet say before them that slay thee: I am God; whereas thou art a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay thee?

10 Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

PSALM: Deuteronomy 32: 26 - 28, 30, 35 - 36

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26 I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men.

27 But for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it: lest perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things.

28 They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom.

30 How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand? Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

35 Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their foot may slide: the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come.

36 The Lord will judge his people, and will have mercy on his servants: he shall see that their hand is weakened, and that they who were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed.

GOSPEL: Matthew 19: 23 - 30

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23 Then Jesus said to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

24 And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

25 And when they had heard this, the disciples wondered very much, saying: Who then can be saved?

26 And Jesus beholding, said to them: With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.

27 Then Peter answering, said to him: Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have?

28 And Jesus said to them: Amen, I say to you, that you, who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.

30 And many that are first, shall be last: and the last shall be first.

Daily Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, August 18, 2014

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 24: 15 - 23

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15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

16 Son of man, behold I take from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke: and thou shalt not lament, nor weep: neither shall thy tears run down.

17 Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead: let the tire of thy head be upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and cover not thy face, nor eat the meat of mourners.

18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening: and I did in the morning as he had commanded me.

19 And the people said to me: Why dost thou not tell us what these things mean that thou doest?

20 And I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying:

21 Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will profane my sanctuary, the glory of your realm, and the thing that your eyes desire, and for which your soul feareth: your sons, and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword.

22 And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces, nor shall you eat the meat of mourners.

23 You shall have crowns on your heads, and shoes on your feet: you shall not lament nor weep, but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and every one shall sigh with his brother.

PSALM: Deuteronomy 32: 18 - 21

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18 Thou hast forsaken the God that beget thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee.

19 The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath: because his own sons and daughters provoked him.

20 And he said: I will hide my face from them, and will consider what their last end shall be: for it is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children.

21 They have provoked me with that which was no god, and have angered me with their vanities: and I will provoke them with that which is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation.

GOSPEL: Matthew 19: 16 - 22

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16 And behold one came and said to him: Good master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?

17 Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

18 He said to him: Which? And Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

20 The young man saith to him: All these I have kept from my youth, what is yet wanting to me?

21 Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.

22 And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions.

Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, July 28, 2014

Mustard Seed

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 13: 1 - 11

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1 This is what Yahweh said to me: "Go! Buy yourself a linen belt and put it around your waist; do not put it in water."

2 So I bought the belt as Yahweh ordered and put it around my waist.

3 The word of Yahweh came to me a second time,

4 "Take the belt you bought, the one you put around your waist, and go to the torrent Perah; hide it there in a hole in the rock."

5 I went and hid it as Yahweh instructed me.

6 After many days Yahweh said to me, "Go to the torrent Perah and get the belt I ordered you to hide there."

7 I went to the torrent and dug up the belt but it was ruined and good for nothing,

8 and Yahweh said to me,

9 "In this way I will destroy the pride and great glory of Judah,

10 this wicked people who refuse to heed what I say, this stubborn people who go after other gods to serve and worship them. And they shall become like this belt which is now good for nothing.

11 For just as a belt is to be bound around a man's waist so was the people of Israel and Judah bound to me - it is Yahweh who speaks - to be my people, my glory and my honor; but they would not listen.

PSALM: Deuteronomy 32: 18 - 21

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18 They have disowned the Rock who fathered them; they have forgotten the God who gave them birth.

19 The Lord saw this, and in his anger rejected his sons and daughters.

20 He said, "I will hide my face from them and see what will become of them. They are so perverse, so unfaithful!

21 They made me jealous with their false gods and angered me with their idols. I will, therefore, make them envious of a foolish people, I will provoke them to anger with an empty-headed nation.

GOSPEL: Matthew 13: 31 - 35

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31 Jesus put another parable before them, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, that a man took and sowed in his field.

32 It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it has fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches."

33 He told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast which a woman took and buried in three measures of flour until the whole mass of dough began to rise."

34 Jesus taught all this to the crowds by means of parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

35 So what the Prophet had said was fulfilled: I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.

Catholic Mass Readings For Friday, June 27, 2014

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 7: 6 - 11

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6 You are a people consecrated to Yahweh, your God. Yahweh has chosen you from among all the peoples on the face of the earth, that you may be his own people.

7 Yahweh has bound himself to you and has chosen you, not because you are the most numerous among all the peoples (on the contrary, you are the least).

8 Rather, he has chosen you because of his love for you and to fulfill the oath he made to your fathers. Therefore, with a firm hand Yahweh brought you out from slavery in Egypt, from the power of Pharaoh.

9 So know that Yahweh, your God, is the true and faithful God. He keeps his covenant, and his love reaches to the thousandth generation for those who love him and fulfill his commandments,

10 but he punishes in their own persons those who hate him and he repays them without delay.

11 So keep the commandments, the norms and the laws that today I command you to practice.

PSALM: Psalms 103: 1 - 4, 6 - 7, 8, 10

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1 Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all his kindness;

3 he forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness;

4 he redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion;

6 The Lord restores justice and secures the rights of the oppressed.

7 He has made known his ways to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger;

10 He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does he punish us as we deserve.

SECOND READING: 1 John 4: 7 - 16

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7 My dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8 Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love.

9 How did the love of God appear among us? God sent his only Son into this world that we might have life through him.

10 This is love: not that we loved God but that he first loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love spreads freely among us.

13 How may we know that we live in God and he in us? Because God has given us his Spirit.

14 We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent his Son to save the world.

15 Those who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in them and they in God.

16 We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 25 - 30

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25 On that occasion Jesus said, "Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people.

26 Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.

27 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest.

30 For my yoke is good and my burden is light."

Sunday Catholic Mass Readings For June 22, 2014

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 8: 2 - 3, 14 - 16

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2 Remember how Yahweh, your God, brought you through the desert for forty years. He humbled you, to test you and know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

3 He made you experience want, he made you experience hunger, but he gave you manna to eat which neither you nor your fathers had known, to show you that man lives not on bread alone, but that all that proceeds from the mouth of God is life for man.

14 then do not let your heart become proud and do not forget Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery.

15 It is he who has led you across this great and terrible desert, full of fiery serpents and scorpions, an arid land where there is no water. But for you he made water gush forth from the hardest rock.

16 And he fed you in the desert with manna which your fathers did not know. He made you experience want and put you to the test, so that it would be for you good later on.

PSALM: Psalms 147: 12 - 15, 19 - 20

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12 Exalt the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion!

13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

14 He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain.

15 He sends his command to the earth and swiftly runs his word.

19 It is he who tells Jacob his words, his laws and decrees to Israel.

20 This he has not done for other nations, so his laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 10: 16 - 17

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16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a communion with the body of Christ?

17 The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.

GOSPEL: John 6: 51 - 58

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51 I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world."

52 The Jews were arguing among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

53 So Jesus replied, "Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood live with eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.

55 My flesh is really food and my blood is drink.

56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me and I in them.

57 Just as the Father, who is life, sent me and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me.

58 This is the bread which came from heaven; unlike that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever."

Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, March 26, 2014

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 4: 1, 5 - 9

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1 And now, O Israel, hear the commandments and judgments which I teach thee: that doing them, thou mayst live, and entering in mayst possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers will give you.

5 You know that I have taught you statutes and justices, as the Lord my God hath commanded me: so shall you do them in the land which you shall possess:

6 And you shall observe, and fulfill them in practice. For this is your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing all these precepts, they may say: Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation.

7 Neither is there any other nation so great, that hath gods so nigh them, as our God is present to all our petitions.

8 For what other nation is there so renowned that hath ceremonies, and just judgments, and all the law, which I will set forth this day before your eyes?

9 Keep thyself therefore, and thy soul carefully. Forget not the words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and to thy grandsons.

PSALM: Psalms 147: 12 - 13, 15 - 16, 19 - 20

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12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion.

13 Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.

15 Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.

16 Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes.

19 Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.

20 He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them. Alleluia.

GOSPEL: Matthew 5: 17 - 19

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17 Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

18 For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Catholic Mass Readings For Saturday, March 15, 2014

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 26: 16 - 19

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16 This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these commandments and judgments: and to keep and fulfill them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

17 Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey his command.

18 And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments:

19 And to make thee higher than all nations which he hath created, to his own praise, and name, and glory: that thou mayst be a holy people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.

PSALM: Psalms 119: 1 - 2, 4 - 5, 7 - 8

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1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

2 Blessed are they who search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart.

4 Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently.

5 O! that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications.

7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned the judgments of thy justice.

8 I will keep thy justifications: O! do not thou utterly forsake me.

GOSPEL: Matthew 5: 43 - 48

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43 You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy.

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:

45 That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.

46 For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this?

47 And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this?

48 Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.

Catholic Mass Readings For Thursday, March 06, 2014

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 30: 15 - 20

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15 Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil:

16 That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live, and he may multiply thee, and bless thee in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

17 But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them:

18 I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,) that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

PSALM: Psalms 1: 1 - 4, 6

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1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

4 Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

GOSPEL: Luke 9: 22 - 25

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22 Saying: The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the ancients and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day rise again.

23 And he said to all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

24 For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; for he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall save it.

25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, and cast away himself?

Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 34: 1 - 12

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1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab upon mount Nebo, to the top of Phasga over against Jericho: and the Lord shewed him all the land of Galaad as far as Dan.

2 And all Nephtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasses, and all the land of Juda unto the furthermost sea,

3 And the south part, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho the city of palm trees as far as Segor.

4 And the Lord said to him: This is the land, for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.

5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord:

6 And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab over against Phogor: and no man hath known of his sepulchre until this present day.

7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

8 And the children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab thirty days: and the days of their mourning in which they mourned for Moses were ended.

9 And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

10 And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,

11 In all the signs and wonders, which he sent by him, to do in the land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole land,

12 And all the mighty hand, and great miracles, which Moses did before all Israel.

PSALM: Psalms 66: 1 - 3, 5, 8, 16 - 17

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1 Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth,

2 Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise.

3 Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord!

5 Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men.

8 O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to be heard.

16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my tongue.

GOSPEL: Matthew 18: 15 - 20

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15 But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.

16 And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.

17 And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.

18 Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.

19 Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.

20 For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, August 13, 2013

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 31: 1 - 8

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1 And Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel,

2 And he said to them: I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: O Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan.

3 The Lord thy God then will pass over before thee: he will destroy all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them: and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

4 And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sehon and Og the kings of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them.

5 Therefore when the Lord shall have delivered these also to you, you shall do in like manner to them as I have commanded you,

6 Do manfully and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not leave thee nor forsake thee.

7 And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel: Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring this people into the land which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt divide it by lot.

8 And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee: he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

PSALM: Deuteronomy 32: 3 - 4, 7 - 9, 12

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3 Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God.

4 The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right.

7 Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee.

8 When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel.

9 But the Lord's portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance.

12 The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him.

GOSPEL: Matthew 18: 1 - 5, 10, 12 - 14

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1 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?

2 And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them,

3 And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.

10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

12 What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray?

13 And if it so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not astray.

14 Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, August 12, 2013

"Saint Peter Finding The Tribute Money" (1618) --by Peter Paul Rubens

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 10: 12 - 22

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12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and serve the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul:

13 And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee?

14 Behold heaven is the Lord's thy God, and the heaven of heaven, the earth and all things that are therein.

15 And yet the Lord hath been closely joined to thy fathers, and loved them and chose their seed after them, that is to say, you, out of all nations, as this day it is proved.

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.

17 Because the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, a great God and mighty and terrible, who accepteth no person nor taketh bribes.

18 He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the stranger, and giveth him food and raiment.

19 And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

20 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only: to him thou shalt adhere, and shalt swear by his name.

21 He is thy praise, and thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thy eyes have seen.

22 In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt: and behold now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven.

PSALM: Psalms 147: 12 - 15, 19 - 20

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12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion.

13 Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.

14 Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn.

15 Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.

19 Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.

20 He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them. Alleluia.

GOSPEL: Matthew 17: 22 - 27

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22 And when they abode together in Galilee, Jesus said to them: The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again. And they were troubled exceedingly.

24 And when they were come to Capharnaum, they that received the didrachmas, came to Peter, and said to him: Doth not your master pay the didrachma?

25 He said: Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying: What is thy opinion, Simon? The kings of the earth, of whom do they receive tribute or custom, of their own children, or of strangers?

26 And he said: Of strangers. Jesus said to him: Then the children are free.

27 But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea, and cast in a hook: and that fish which shall first come up, take: and when thou hast opened it’s mouth, thou shalt find a stater: take that, and give it to them for me and thee.