Mass Readings for Saturday, January 30, 2010

Saint Hyacinth Marescotti, Virgin (Memorial) 

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 12: 1 - 7, 10 - 17

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1 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.

2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds;

3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his morsel, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.

4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;

6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."

7 Nathan said to David, "You are the man. Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul;

10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uri'ah the Hittite to be your wife.'

11 Thus says the LORD, `Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'"

13 David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born to you shall die."

15 Then Nathan went to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uri'ah's wife bore to David, and it became sick.

16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in and lay all night upon the ground.

17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 
 

PSALM: Psalms 51: 12 - 17

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12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

16 For thou hast no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased.

17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 
 

GOSPEL: Mark 4: 35 - 41

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35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."

36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

37 And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?"

39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?"

41 And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"

Mass Readings for Friday, January 29, 2010

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 11: 1 - 10, 13 - 17

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1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Jo'ab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathshe'ba, the daughter of Eli'am, the wife of Uri'ah the Hittite?"

4 So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.

5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, "I am with child."

6 So David sent word to Jo'ab, "Send me Uri'ah the Hittite." And Jo'ab sent Uri'ah to David.

7 When Uri'ah came to him, David asked how Jo'ab was doing, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.

8 Then David said to Uri'ah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." And Uri'ah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king.

9 But Uri'ah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.

10 When they told David, "Uri'ah did not go down to his house," David said to Uri'ah, "Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"

13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Jo'ab, and sent it by the hand of Uri'ah.

15 In the letter he wrote, "Set Uri'ah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die."

16 And as Jo'ab was besieging the city, he assigned Uri'ah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.

17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Jo'ab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uri'ah the Hittite was slain also. 

 

PSALM: Psalms 51: 3 - 7, 10 - 11

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3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. 

 

GOSPEL: Mark 4: 26 - 34

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26 And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground,

27 and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.

28 The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

30 And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;

32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it;

34 he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Mass Readings for Thursday, January 28, 2010

St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 7: 18 – 19, 24 - 29

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18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far?

19 And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O Lord GOD; thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations, O Lord GOD!

24 And thou didst establish for thyself thy people Israel to be thy people for ever; and thou, O LORD, didst become their God.

25 And now, O LORD God, confirm for ever the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house, and do as thou hast spoken;

26 and thy name will be magnified for ever, saying, `The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,' and the house of thy servant David will be established before thee.

27 For thou, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, hast made this revelation to thy servant, saying, `I will build you a house'; therefore thy servant has found courage to pray this prayer to thee.

28 And now, O Lord GOD, thou art God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this good thing to thy servant;

29 now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken, and with thy blessing shall the house of thy servant be blessed for ever."

PSALM: Psalms 132: 1 – 5, 11 - 14

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1 Remember, O LORD, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured;

2 how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

3 "I will not enter my house or get into my bed;

4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,

5 until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.

12 If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies which I shall teach them, their sons also for ever shall sit upon your throne."

13For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation:

14 "This is my resting place for ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

GOSPEL: Mark 4: 21 - 25

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21 And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

22 For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.

23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."

24 And he said to them, "Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.

25 For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

Mass Readings for Wednesday, January 27, 2010

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 7: 4 - 17

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4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan,

5 "Go and tell my servant David, `Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in?

6 I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"'

8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, `Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel;

9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;

15 but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.

16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.'"

17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. 
 

PSALM: Psalms 89: 4 – 5, 27 - 30

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4 `I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.'" [Selah]

5 Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O LORD, thy faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

27 And I will make him the first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.

28 My steadfast love I will keep for him for ever, and my covenant will stand firm for him.

29 I will establish his line for ever and his throne as the days of the heavens.

30 If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances, 
 

GOSPEL: Mark 4: 1 - 20

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1 On another occasion he began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.

2 And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them,

3 "Hear this! A sower went out to sow.

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.

6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.

7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain.

8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

9 He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."

10 And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables.

11 He answered them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables,

12 so that 'they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.'"

13 Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

14 The sower sows the word.

15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them.

16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.

17 But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

18 Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word,

19 but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.

20 But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."