Daily Mass Readings for Friday, November 18, 2011

FIRST READING: Acts 28: 11 - 16, 30 - 31

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11 After three months we set sail in a ship which had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the Twin Brothers as figurehead.

12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhe'gium; and after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Pute'oli.

14 There we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

15 And the brethren there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Ap'pius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them Paul thanked God and took courage.

16 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him.

30 And he lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,

31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered.

PSALM: Psalms 98: 1 - 6

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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.

2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!

GOSPEL: Matthew 14: 22 - 33

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22 Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

24 but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water."

29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;

30 but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?"

32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Daily Mass Readings for Thursday, November 17, 2011

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

FIRST READING: 1 Maccabees 2: 15 - 29

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15 Then the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to make them offer sacrifice.

16 Many from Israel came to them; and Mattathias and his sons were assembled.

17 Then the king's officers spoke to Mattathias as follows: "You are a leader, honored and great in this city, and supported by sons and brothers.

18 Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts."

19 But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: "Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have chosen to do his commandments, departing each one from the religion of his fathers,

20 yet I and my sons and my brothers will live by the covenant of our fathers.

21 Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances.

22 We will not obey the king's words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left."

23 When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice upon the altar in Modein, according to the king's command.

24 When Mattathias saw it, be burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him upon the altar.

25 At the same time he killed the king's officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar.

26 Thus he burned with zeal for the law, as Phinehas did against Zimri the son of Salu.

27 Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: "Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!"

28 And he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the city.

29 Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there.

PSALM: Psalms 50: 1 - 2, 5 - 6, 14 - 15

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1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!"

6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! [Selah]

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High;

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

GOSPEL: Luke 19: 41 - 44

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41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it,

42 saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.

43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side,

44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation." 

Daily Mass Readings for Wednesday, November 16, 2011

FIRST READING: 2 Maccabees 7: 1, 20 - 31

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1 It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine's flesh.

20 The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord.

21 She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman's reasoning with a man's courage, and said to them,

22 "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you.

23 Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws."

24 Antiochus felt that he was being treated with contempt, and he was suspicious of her reproachful tone. The youngest brother being still alive, Antiochus not only appealed to him in words, but promised with oaths that he would make him rich and enviable if he would turn from the ways of his fathers, and that he would take him for his friend and entrust him with public affairs.

25 Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself.

26 After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son.

27 But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: "My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you.

28 I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being.

29 Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God's mercy I may get you back again with your brothers."

30 While she was still speaking, the young man said, "What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.

31 But you, who have contrived all sorts of evil against the Hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of God.

PSALM: Psalms 17: 1, 5 - 6, 8, 15

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1 Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

5 My steps have held fast to thy paths, my feet have not slipped.

6 I call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God; incline thy ear to me, hear my words.

8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings,

15 As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form.

GOSPEL: Luke 19: 11 - 28

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11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

12 He said therefore, "A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return.

13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, `Trade with these till I come.'

14 But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, `We do not want this man to reign over us.'

15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading.

16 The first came before him, saying, `Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.'

17 And he said to him, `Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.'

18 And the second came, saying, `Lord, your pound has made five pounds.'

19 And he said to him, `And you are to be over five cities.'

20 Then another came, saying, `Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin;

21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.'

22 He said to him, `I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?

23 Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?'

24 And he said to those who stood by, `Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.'

25 (And they said to him, `Lord, he has ten pounds!')

26 I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'"

28 And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Daily Mass Readings for Tuesday, November 15, 2011

FIRST READING: 2 Maccabees 6: 18 - 31

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18 Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine's flesh.

19 But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, went up to the rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh,

20 as men ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.

21 Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside, because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to use, and pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal which had been commanded by the king,

22 so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them.

23 But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age and the gray hairs which he had reached with distinction and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling them to send him to Hades.

24 "Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life," he said, "lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to an alien religion,

25 and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age.

26 For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty.

27 Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age

28 and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws." When he had said this, he went at once to the rack.

29 And those who a little before had acted toward him with good will now changed to ill will, because the words he had uttered were in their opinion sheer madness.

30 When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned aloud and said: "It is clear to the Lord in his holy knowledge that, though I might have been saved from death, I am enduring terrible sufferings in my body under this beating, but in my soul I am glad to suffer these things because I fear him."

31 So in this way he died, leaving in his death an example of nobility and a memorial of courage, not only to the young but to the great body of his nation.

PSALM: Psalms 3: 2 - 7

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2 many are saying of me, there is no help for him in God. [Selah]

3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4 I cry aloud to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy hill. [Selah]

5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

6 I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! For thou dost smite all my enemies on the cheek, thou dost break the teeth of the wicked.

GOSPEL: Luke 19: 1 - 10

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1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.

2 And there was a man named Zacchae'us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich.

3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature.

4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today."

6 So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.

7 And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

8 And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold."

9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."