Mass Readings for Sunday, August 28, 2011

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 20: 7 - 9

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7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; every one mocks me.

8 For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, "Violence and destruction!" For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.

9 If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

PSALM: Psalms 63: 2 - 6, 8 - 9

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2 So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary, beholding thy power and glory.

3 Because thy steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise thee.

4 So I will bless thee as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on thy name.

5 My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat, and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips,

6 when I think of thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the watches of the night;

8 My soul clings to thee; thy right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth.

SECOND READING: Romans 12: 1 - 2

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1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

GOSPEL: Matthew 16: 21 - 27

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21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

22 And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you."

23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men."

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

26 For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?

27 For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.

Mass Readings for Saturday, August 27, 2011

Memorial of Saint Monica

FIRST READING: 1 Thessalonians 4: 9 - 11

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9 But concerning love of the brethren you have no need to have any one write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;

10 and indeed you do love all the brethren throughout Macedo'nia. But we exhort you, brethren, to do so more and more,

11 to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you;

PSALM: Psalms 98: 1, 7 - 9

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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.

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!

8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together

9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

GOSPEL: Matthew 25: 14 - 30

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14 "For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property;

15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more.

17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more.

18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, `Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.'

21 His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'

22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, `Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.'

23 His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, `Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow;

25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.'

26 But his master answered him, `You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed?

27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents.

29 For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'

Mass Readings for Thursday, August 25, 2011

First Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3: 7 - 13

7 for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith;
8 for now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
9 For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God,
10 praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you;
12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you,
13 so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Psalm: Psalms 90: 3 - 5, 12 - 14, 17

3 Thou turnest man back to the dust, and sayest, "Turn back, O children of men!"
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning:
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on thy servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Gospel: Matthew 24: 42 - 51

42 Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
46 Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing.
47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, `My master is delayed,'
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken,
50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know,
51 and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

Mass Readings for Wednesday, August 24, 2011

 

 

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

FIRST READING: Revelation 21: 9 - 14

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9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."

10 And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,

11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed;

13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

PSALM: Psalms 145: 10 - 13, 17 - 18

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10 All thy works shall give thanks to thee, O LORD, and all thy saints shall bless thee!

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

12 to make known to the sons of men thy mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of thy kingdom.

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.

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 1: 45 - 51

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45 Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

46 Nathan'a-el said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

47 Jesus saw Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"

48 Nathan'a-el said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

49 Nathan'a-el answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

50 Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these."

51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."