Mass Readings for Thursday, August 16, 2012

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 12: 1 - 2

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1 The word of the LORD came to me:

2 "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not.

PSALM: Psalms 78: 56 - 59, 61 - 62

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56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God, and did not observe his testimonies,

57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.

61 and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.

62 He gave his people over to the sword, and vented his wrath on his heritage.

GOSPEL: Matthew 18: 21 - 35 -- 19: 1

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21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

24 When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents;

25 and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, `Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'

27 And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

28 But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, `Pay what you owe.'

29 So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'

30 He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt.

31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.

32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me;

33 and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'

34 And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt.

35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Mass Readings for Wednesday, August 15, 2012

"The Magnificat" --by James Tissot

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

FIRST READING: Revelation 11: 19; Revelation 12: 1 - 6, 10

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19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

1 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;

2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.

3 And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.

4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth;

5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,

6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

PSALM: Psalms 45: 10 - 12, 16

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10 Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house;

11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him;

12 the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, the richest of the people

16 Instead of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 15: 20 - 27

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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.

27 "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection under him," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him.

GOSPEL: Luke 1: 39 - 56

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39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,

40 and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.

41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.

45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,

52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."

56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.

A Favor To Ask

As many regular readers know, due to my employment changes, the last several months have been a financial burden on me, as well as many of you.

I have gone from 40 hours a week to about 28 a week (on a good week) and, as is the case for many of us, I end up with far too much month left at the end of the money. In fact, the day after my computer went down, I also had the experience of having my electric power shut off for the first time in my life. I had gotten paid that day, but it took all the money that I had to get the power turned back on later that night. The power company is requiring that I pay an additional amount as a “deposit” by my next pay day on May 24 (which is kind of funny as that is two days after my birthday).

So, I have added a “Tip Jar” over on the top right hand sidebar of each blog if anyone would like to give me a hand. The “Donate” button utilizes PayPal, which is familiar to most internet users. I appreciate what you can do, and I would especially appreciate your prayers more than anything!

Once again, I would like to thank all of you who have clicked the various ads that appear on these blogs, and for using my links to purchase Mystic Monk Coffee, and the products I have from Zazzle. If it hadn't been for the purchases of Mystic Monk Coffee that literally poured in after Christmas through March, I would not have been able to have made it through the winter.

Let me say, that I am embarrassed to post this, but I am to the point of not knowing what else I can do, except rely on God, who has seen me through many storms. God has been good to me, and has helped me out with so many trials that I can not begin to recount them all.

So, please keep me in your prayers. I appreciate that more than you could ever know!

May God Bless you and Our Lady keep you in her care!

Mass Readings for Tuesday, August 14, 2012

"Jesus and the Little Child" --by James Tissot

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 2: 8 - 3: 4

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8 "But you, son of man, hear what I say to you; be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth, and eat what I give you."

9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and, lo, a written scroll was in it;

10 and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."

2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, "Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them.

PSALM: Psalms 119: 14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131

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14 In the way of thy testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

24 Thy testimonies are my delight, they are my counselors.

72 The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

103 How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

111 Thy testimonies are my heritage for ever; yea, they are the joy of my heart.

131 With open mouth I pant, because I long for thy commandments.

GOSPEL: Matthew 18: 1 - 5, 10, 12 - 14

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1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them,

3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.

10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.

12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.