Mass Readings for Thursday, July 19, 2012

FIRST READING: Isaiah 26: 7 - 9, 12, 16 - 19

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7 The way of the righteous is level; thou dost make smooth the path of the righteous.

8 In the path of thy judgments, O LORD, we wait for thee; thy memorial name is the desire of our soul.

9 My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee. For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

12 O LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us, thou hast wrought for us all our works.

16 O LORD, in distress they sought thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

17 Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs, when she is near her time, so were we because of thee, O LORD;

18 we were with child, we writhed, we have as it were brought forth wind. We have wrought no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

19 Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall.

PSALM: Psalms 102: 13 - 21

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13 Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come.

14 For thy servants hold her stones dear, and have pity on her dust.

15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

16 For the LORD will build up Zion, he will appear in his glory;

17 he will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their supplication.

18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:

19 that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

21 that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 28 - 30

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28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Mass Readings For Wednesday, July 18, 2012

FIRST READING: Isaiah 10: 5 - 7, 13 - 16

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5 Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury!

6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 But he does not so intend, and his mind does not so think; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;

13 For he says: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

14 My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped."

15 Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

16 Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.

PSALM: Psalms 94: 5 - 10, 14 - 15

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5 They crush thy people, O LORD, and afflict thy heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;

7 and they say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive."

8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?

9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?

10 He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise? He who teaches men knowledge,

14 For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;

15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 25 - 27

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25 At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes;

26 yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.

27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Mass Readings for Tuesday, July 17, 2012

FIRST READING: Isaiah 7: 1 - 9

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1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzzi'ah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali'ah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it.

2 When the house of David was told, "Syria is in league with E'phraim," his heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go forth to meet Ahaz, you and She'ar-jash'ub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field,

4 and say to him, `Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remali'ah.

5 Because Syria, with E'phraim and the son of Remali'ah, has devised evil against you, saying,

6 "Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Ta'be-el as king in the midst of it,"

7 thus says the Lord GOD: It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.

8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. (Within sixty-five years E'phraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)

9 And the head of E'phraim is Sama'ria, and the head of Sama'ria is the son of Remali'ah. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

PSALM: Psalms 48: 2 - 8

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2 beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.

3 Within her citadels God has shown himself a sure defense.

4 For lo, the kings assembled, they came on together.

5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded, they were in panic, they took to flight;

6 trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in travail.

7 By the east wind thou didst shatter the ships of Tarshish.

8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes for ever. [Selah]

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 20 - 24

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20 Then he began to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

21 "Woe to you, Chora'zin! woe to you, Beth-sa'ida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

23 And you, Caper'na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24 But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you."

Mass Readings for Monday, July 16, 2012

FIRST READING: Isaiah 1: 10 - 17

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10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomor'rah!

11 "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

12 "When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?

13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,

17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

PSALM: Psalms 50: 8 - 9, 16 - 17, 21, 23

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8 I do not reprove you for your sacrifices; your burnt offerings are continually before me.

9 I will accept no bull from your house, nor he-goat from your folds.

16 But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips?

17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.

21 These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before

you.

23 He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me; to him who orders his way aright I will show the salvation of God!"

GOSPEL: Matthew 10: 34 -- 11: 1

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34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

36 and a man's foes will be those of his own household.

37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

38 and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.

41 He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a

righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."

1 And when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on

from there to teach and preach in their cities.