Daily Mass Readings for Monday, November 21, 2011

Memorial of The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

FIRST READING: Daniel 1: 1 - 6, 8 - 20

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1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came and laid siege to Jerusalem.

2 The Lord handed over to him Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and some of the vessels of the temple of God, which he carried off to the land of Shinar, and placed in the temple treasury of his god.

3 The king told Ashpenaz, his chief chamberlain, to bring in some of the Israelites of royal blood and of the nobility,

4 young men without any defect, handsome, intelligent and wise, quick to learn, and prudent in judgment, such as could take their place in the king's palace; they were to be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans;

5 after three years' training they were to enter the king's service. The king allotted them a daily portion of food and wine from the royal table.

6 Among these were men of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

8 But Daniel was resolved not to defile himself with the king's food or wine; so he begged the chief chamberlain to spare him this defilement.

9 Though God had given Daniel the favor and sympathy of the chief chamberlain,

10 he nevertheless said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king; it is he who allotted your food and drink. If he sees that you look wretched by comparison with the other young men of your age, you will endanger my life with the king."

11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief chamberlain had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

12 "Please test your servants for ten days. Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

13 Then see how we look in comparison with the other young men who eat from the royal table, and treat your servants according to what you see."

14 He acceded to this request, and tested them for ten days;

15 after ten days they looked healthier and better fed than any of the young men who ate from the royal table.

16 So the steward continued to take away the food and wine they were to receive, and gave them vegetables.

17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and proficiency in all literature and science, and to Daniel the understanding of all visions and dreams.

18 At the end of the time the king had specified for their preparation, the chief chamberlain brought them before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 When the king had spoken with all of them, none was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and so they entered the king's service.

20 In any question of wisdom or prudence which the king put to them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom.

PSALM: Daniel 3: 52 - 56

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52 "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.

53 Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.

54 Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

55 Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

56 Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever.

GOSPEL: Luke 21: 1 - 4

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1 He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury;

2 and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins.

3 And he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;

4 for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had."

Daily Mass Readings for Sunday, November 20, 2011

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ The King

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 34: 11 - 12, 15 - 17

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11 "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.

16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.

17 "As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats.

PSALM: Psalms 23: 1 - 3, 5 - 6

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1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;

2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 15: 20 - 26, 28

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20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.

GOSPEL: Matthew 25: 31 - 46

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31 "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.

34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

37 Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?

38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?

39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'

40 And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;

42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

44 Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'

45 Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.'

46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Daily Mass Readings for Saturday, November 19, 2011

FIRST READING: 1 Maccabees 6: 1 - 13

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1 King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard that Elymais in Persia was a city famed for its wealth in silver and gold.

2 Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields, breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander, the son of Philip, the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks.

3 So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could not, because his plan became known to the men of the city

4 and they withstood him in battle. So he fled and in great grief departed from there to return to Babylon.

5 Then some one came to him in Persia and reported that the armies which had gone into the land of Judah had been routed;

6 that Lysias had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews; that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils which they had taken from the armies they had cut down;

7 that they had torn down the abomination which he had erected upon the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Beth-zur, his city.

8 When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken. He took to his bed and became sick from grief, because things had not turned out for him as he had planned.

9 He lay there for many days, because deep grief continually gripped him, and he concluded that he was dying.

10 So he called all his friends and said to them, "Sleep departs from my eyes and I am downhearted with worry.

11 I said to myself, `To what distress I have come! And into what a great flood I now am plunged! For I was kind and beloved in my power.'

12 But now I remember the evils I did in Jerusalem. I seized all her vessels of silver and gold; and I sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judah without good reason.

13 I know that it is because of this that these evils have come upon me; and behold, I am perishing of deep grief in a strange land."

PSALM: Psalms 9: 2 - 4, 6, 16, 19

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2 I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before thee.

4 For thou hast maintained my just cause; thou hast sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

6 The enemy have vanished in everlasting ruins; their cities thou hast rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.

16 The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. [Higgaion. Selah]

19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before thee!

GOSPEL: Luke 20: 27 - 40

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27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who say that there is no resurrection,

28 and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his brother.

29 Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and died without children;

30 and the second

31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

32 Afterward the woman also died.

33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife."

34 And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage;

35 but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

36 for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him."

39 And some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well."

40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question. 

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."