Mass Readings For Friday, April 8, 2011

FIRST READING: Wisdom 2: 1, 12 - 22

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1 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, "Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when a man comes to his end, and no one has been known to return from Hades.

12 "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.

13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.

14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;

15 the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.

16 We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father.

17 Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;

18 for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.

19 Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance.

20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."

21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them,

22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hope for the wages of holiness, nor discern the prize for blameless souls.

PSALM: Psalms 34: 17 - 21, 23

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17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

23 The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

GOSPEL: John 7: 1 - 2, 10, 25 - 30

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1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.

2 Now the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand.

10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?

26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

27 Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from."

28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me."

30 So they sought to arrest him; but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Mass Readings For Thursday, April 7, 2011

FIRST READING: Exodus 32: 7 - 14

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7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves;

8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'"

9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;

10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation."

11 But Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thine own self, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.'"

14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.

PSALM: Psalms 106: 19 - 23

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19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image.

20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.

21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.

23 Therefore he said he would destroy them-- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

GOSPEL: John 5: 31 - 47

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31 If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true;

32 there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true.

33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

34 Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved.

35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me.

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen;

38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me;

40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

41 I do not receive glory from men.

42 But I know that you have not the love of God within you.

43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope.

46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.

47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

Mass Readings For Wednesday, April 6, 2011

FIRST READING: Isaiah 49: 8 - 15

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8 Thus says the LORD: "In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages;

9 saying to the prisoners, 'Come forth,' to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.' They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.

11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up.

12 Lo, these shall come from afar, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene."

13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."

15 "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

PSALM: Psalms 145: 8 - 9, 13 - 14, 17 - 18

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8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.

14 The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

17 The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.

GOSPEL: John 5: 17 - 30

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17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working still, and I am working."

18 This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.

19 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.

20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel.

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself,

27 and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.

28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

29 and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

30 "I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Mass Readings For Tuesday, April 5, 2011

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 47: 1 - 9, 12

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1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

3 Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep.

4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins.

5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

6 And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back along the bank of the river.

7 As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8 And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh.

9 And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.

12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."

PSALM: Psalms 46: 2 - 3, 5 - 6, 8 - 9

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2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. [Selah]

5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early.

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has wrought desolations in the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire!

GOSPEL: John 5: 1 - 16

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1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Beth-za'tha, which has five porticoes.

3 In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed.

5 One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?"

7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me."

8 Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your pallet, and walk."

9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. Now that day was the sabbath.

10 So the Jews said to the man who was cured, "It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet."

11 But he answered them, "The man who healed me said to me, `Take up your pallet, and walk.'"

12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, `Take up your pallet, and walk'?"

13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

14 Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you."

15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

16 And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the sabbath.