Daily Mass Readings for Saturday, February 18, 2012

FIRST READING: James 3: 1 - 10

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1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness.

2 For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.

3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses that they may obey us, we guide their whole bodies.

4 Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

5 So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!

6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind,

8 but no human being can tame the tongue -- a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God.

10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so.

PSALM: Psalms 12: 2 - 5, 7 - 8

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2 Every one utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is our master?"

5 "Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the LORD; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs."

7 Do thou, O LORD, protect us, guard us ever from this generation.

8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

GOSPEL: Mark 9: 2 - 13

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2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them,

3 and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

4 And there appeared to them Eli'jah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus.

5 And Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli'jah."

6 For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid.

7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."

8 And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only.

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead.

10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

11 And they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that first Eli'jah must come?"

12 And he said to them, "Eli'jah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

13 But I tell you that Eli'jah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."

Daily Mass Readings for Friday, February 17, 2012

FIRST READING: James 2: 14 - 24, 26

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14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?

17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

18 But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder.

20 Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works,

23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God.

24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

PSALM: Psalms 112: 1 - 6

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1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!

2 His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.

6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever.

GOSPEL: Mark 8: 34 - 38 -- 9: 1

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34 And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

35 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

37 For what can a man give in return for his life?

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

1 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."

Daily Mass Readings for Thursday, February 16, 2012

FIRST READING: James 2: 1 - 9

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1 My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

2 For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

3 and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "Have a seat here, please," while you say to the poor man, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet,"

4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court?

7 Is it not they who blaspheme that honorable name which was invoked over you?

8 If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.

9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

PSALM: Psalms 34: 2 - 7

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2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad.

3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5 Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

GOSPEL: Mark 8: 27 - 33

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27 And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesare'a Philip'pi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?"

28 And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Eli'jah; and others one of the prophets."

29 And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."

30 And he charged them to tell no one about him.

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

32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."

Daily Mass Readings for Wednesday, February 15, 2012

FIRST READING: James 1: 19 - 27

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19 Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror;

24 for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

25 But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.

26 If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain.

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

PSALM: Psalms 15: 2 - 5

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2 He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart;

3 who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;

4 in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

5 who does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

GOSPEL: Mark 8: 22 - 26

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22 And they came to Beth-sa'ida. And some people brought to him a blind man, and begged him to touch him.

23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?"

24 And he looked up and said, "I see men; but they look like trees, walking."

25 Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly.

26 And he sent him away to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."