Mass Readings For Tuesday, October 24, 2006

FIRST READING: Ephesians 2: 12 - 22

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12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility,

15 by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.

17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;

18 for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

21 in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

22 in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

PSALM: Psalms 85: 9 - 14

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9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.

12 Yea, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.

GOSPEL: Luke 12: 35 - 38

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35 "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning,

36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks.

37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them.

38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!

Mass Readings For Monday, October 23, 2006

St. John of Capistrano, OFM, Priest (Memorial)

FIRST READING: Ephesians 2: 1 - 10

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1 And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

3 Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

6 and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God --

9 not because of works, lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

PSALM: Psalms 100: 2 - 5

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2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

GOSPEL: Luke 12: 13 - 21

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13 One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me."

14 But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?"

15 And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

16 And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully;

17 and he thought to himself, `What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'

18 And he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.'

20 But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'

21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Mass Readings For Friday, October 20, 2006

FIRST READING: Ephesians 1: 11 - 14

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11 In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will,

12 we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.

13 In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

14 which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

PSALM: Psalms 33: 1 - 2, 4 - 5, 12 - 13

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1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.

2 Praise the LORD with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

4 For the word of the LORD is upright; and all his work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The LORD looks down from heaven, he sees all the sons of men;

GOSPEL: Luke 12: 1 - 7

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1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

4 "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him!

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Mass Readings For Thursday, October 19, 2006

Saints Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf, Priests, Martyrs and Their Companions (Memorial)

FIRST READING: Ephesians 1: 1 - 10

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1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

5 He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

6 to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

8 which he lavished upon us.

9 For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ

10 as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

PSALM: Psalms 98: 1 - 6

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1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.

2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!

GOSPEL: Luke 11: 47 - 54

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47 Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.

48 So you are witnesses and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their tombs.

49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, `I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'

50 that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation,

51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechari'ah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be required of this generation.

52 Woe to you lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard, and to provoke him to speak of many things,

54 lying in wait for him, to catch at something he might say.