Mass Readings for Sunday, March 21, 2010

 Fifth Sunday of Lent (Total Consecration - Day 30)

FIRST READING: Isaiah 43: 16 - 21

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16 Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,

17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

18 "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

20 The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,

21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. 

 

PSALM: Psalms 126: 1 - 6

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1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

3 The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.

4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb!

5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!

6 He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

SECOND READING: Philippians 3: 8 - 14

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8 Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

GOSPEL: John 8: 1 - 11

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1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

4 they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?"

6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

10 Jesus looked up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."

Mass Readings for Saturday, 03/20/2010

 Lenten Weekday (Total Consecration - Day 29)

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 11: 18 - 20

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18 The LORD made it known to me and I knew; then thou didst show me their evil deeds.

19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more."

20 But, O LORD of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause. 
 

PSALM: Psalms 7: 2 - 3, 9 - 12

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2 lest like a lion they rend me, dragging me away, with none to rescue.

3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,

9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous, thou who triest the minds and hearts, thou righteous God.

10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.

12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow; 
 

GOSPEL: John 7: 40 - 53

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40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This is really the prophet."

41 Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee?

42 Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"

43 So there was a division among the people over him.

44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

45 The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?"

46 The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man!"

47 The Pharisees answered them, "Are you led astray, you also?

48 Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?

49 But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed."

50 Nicode'mus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,

51 "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?"

52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee."

53 They went each to his own house,

Mass Readings for Friday, March 19, 2010

Saint Joseph, Foster Father of Our Lord, Husband of the Virgin Mary (Solemnity)
Lenten Weekday (Total Consecration - Day 28)

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 7: 4 - 5, 12 - 14, 16

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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?

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;

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

 

PSALM: Psalms 89: 2 - 5, 27, 29

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2 For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.

3 Thou hast said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant:

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.

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

 

SECOND READING: Romans 4: 13, 16 - 18, 22

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13 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants -- not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all,

17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" -- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."

22 That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness." 

GOSPEL: Matthew 1: 16, 18 - 21, 24 or Luke 2: 41 - 51

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16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;

19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;

21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 

Or

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom;

43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances;

45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.

46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions;

47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously."

49 And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

50 And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.

51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

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It is true, that for those of us in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the rest of the western hemisphere, they are one day ahead.

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May the Good Lord bless you, and Our Lady keep you in her care,

Steve Smith