Mass Readings for Saturday, February 19, 2011

"The Transfiguration" - James Tissot

FIRST READING: Hebrews 11: 1 - 7

---

1 Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.

2 For by this the ancients obtained a testimony.

3 By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God; that from invisible things visible things might be made.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice exceeding that of Cain, by which he obtained a testimony that he was just, God giving testimony to his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

5 By faith Henoch was translated, that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had testimony that he pleased God.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him.

7 By faith Noe, having received an answer concerning those things which as yet were not seen, moved with fear, framed the ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world; and was instituted heir of the justice which is by faith.

PSALM: Psalms 145: 2 - 5, 10 - 11

---

2 Every day I will bless thee: and I will praise thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end.

4 Generation and generation shall praise thy works: and they shall declare thy power.

5 They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness: and shall tell thy wondrous works.

10 Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee.

11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell of thy power.

GOSPEL: Mark 9: 2 - 13

---

2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves, and was transfigured before them.

3 And his garments became shining and exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller upon earth can make white.

4 And there appeared to them Elias with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.

5 And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

6 For he knew not what he said: for they were struck with fear.

7 And there was a cloud overshadowing them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying: This is my most beloved son; hear ye him.

8 And immediately looking about, they saw no man any more, but Jesus only with them.

9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them not to tell any man what things they had seen, till the Son of man shall be risen again from the dead.

10 And they kept the word to themselves; questioning together what that should mean, when he shall be risen from the dead.

11 And they asked him, saying: Why then do the Pharisees and scribes say that Elias must come first?

12 Who answering, said to them: Elias, when he shall come first, shall restore all things; and as it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things and be despised.

13 But I say to you, that Elias also is come, (and they have done to him whatsoever they would,) as it is written of him. 

Mass Readings for Friday, February 18, 2011

FIRST READING: Genesis 11: 1 - 9

---

1 And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.

2 And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.

3 And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them with fire. And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar.

4 And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.

6 And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

7 Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.

9 And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.

PSALM: Psalms 33: 10 - 15

---

10 The Lord bringeth to naught the counsels of nations; and he rejecteth the devices of people, and casteth away the counsels of princes.

11 But the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever: the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.

13 The Lord hath looked from heaven: he hath beheld all the sons of men.

14 From his habitation which he hath prepared, he hath looked upon all that dwell on the earth.

15 He who hath made the hearts of every one of them: who understandeth all their works.

GOSPEL: Mark 8: 34 -- 9: 1

---

34 And calling the multitude together with his disciples, he said to them: If any man will follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35 For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, shall save it.

36 For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?

37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

38 For he that shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

1 And he said to them: Amen I say to you, that there are some of them that stand here, who shall not taste death, till they see the kingdom of God coming in power.

Mass Readings for Thursday, February 17, 2011

FIRST READING: Genesis 9: 1 - 13

---

1 And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.

2 And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.

3 And every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:

4 Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.

5 For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.

6 Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.

7 But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth, and fill it.

8 Thus also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him,

9 Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you:

10 And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.

11 I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.

12 And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.

13 I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth.

PSALM: Psalms 102: 16 - 21, 29, 22 - 23

---

16 And the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

17 For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory.

18 He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition.

19 Let these things be written unto another generation: and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord:

20 Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord hath looked upon the earth.

21 That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain.

29 The children of thy servants shall continue: and their seed shall be directed for ever.

22 That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem;

23 When the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the Lord.

GOSPEL: Mark 8: 27 - 33

---

27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And in the way, he asked his disciples, saying to them: Whom do men say that I am?

28 Who answered him, saying: John the Baptist; but some Elias, and others as one of the prophets.

29 Then he saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Peter answering said to him: Thou art the Christ.

30 And he strictly charged them that they should not tell any man of him.

31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the ancients and by the high priests, and the scribes, and be killed: and after three days rise again.

32 And he spoke the word openly. And Peter taking him, began to rebuke him.

33 Who turning about and seeing his disciples, threatened Peter, saying: Go behind me, Satan, because thou savorest not the things that are of God, but that are of men.

Mass Readings for Wednesday, February 16, 2011

FIRST READING: Genesis 8: 6 - 13, 20 - 22

---

6 And after that forty days were passed, Noe, opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent forth a raven:

7 Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.

8 He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.

9 But she, not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.

10 And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.

11 And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the earth.

12 And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned not any more unto him.

13 Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.

20 And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.

21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.

22 All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.

PSALM: Psalms 116: 12 - 15, 18 - 19

---

12 What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he hath rendered unto me?

13 I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

14 I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people:

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people:

19 In the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.

GOSPEL: Mark 8: 22 - 26

---

22 And they came to Bethsaida; and they bring to him a blind man, and they besought him that he would touch him.

23 And taking the blind man by the hand, he led him out of the town; and spitting upon his eyes, laying his hands on him, he asked him if he saw any thing.

24 And looking up, he said: I see men as it were trees, walking.

25 After that again he laid his hands upon his eyes, and he began to see, and was restored, so that he saw all things clearly.

26 And he sent him into his house, saying: Go into thy house, and if thou enter into the town, tell nobody.