Mass Readings For Thursday, December 06, 2012

Saint Nicholas, Bishop (Optional Memorial)

FIRST READING: Isaiah 26: 1 - 6

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1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.

2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in.

3 Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.

4 Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

5 For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust.

6 The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy."

PSALM: Psalms 118: 1, 8 - 9, 19 - 21, 25 - 27

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1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.

20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.

21 I thank thee that thou hast answered me and hast become my salvation.

25 Save us, we beseech thee, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech thee, give us success!

26 Blessed be he who enters in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.

27 The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar!

GOSPEL: Matthew 7: 21, 24 - 27

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21 "Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

24 "Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;

25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

26 And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand;

27 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."

Mass Readings For Wednesday, December 05, 2012

FIRST READING: Isaiah 25: 6 - 10

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6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.

PSALM: Psalms 23: 1 - 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.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
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.

GOSPEL: Matthew 15: 29 - 37

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29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,
31 so that the throng wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."
33 And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?"
34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."
35 And commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground,
36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
37 And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

Mass Readings For Tuesday, December 04, 2012

FIRST READING: Isaiah 11: 1 - 10

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1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall

grow out of his roots.

2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and

understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the

fear of the LORD.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what

his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the

meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and

with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his

loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the

kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead

them.

7 The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the

lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child

shall put his hand on the adder's den.

9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be

full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him

shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.

PSALM: Psalms 72: 1 - 2, 7 - 8, 12 - 13, 17

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1 Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son!

2 May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice!

7 In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be

no more!

8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the

earth!

12 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no

helper.

13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.

17 May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May

men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed!

GOSPEL: Luke 10: 21 - 24

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21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "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; yea, Father, for such was

thy gracious will.

22 All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who

the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one

to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which

see what you see!

24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and

did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

Mass Readings For Monday, December 03, 2012

"Lord, I Am Not Worthy" -- by James Tissot

Memorialof Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

FIRST READING: Isaiah 2: 1 - 5

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1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,

3 and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

PSALM: Psalms 122: 1 - 9

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1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!"

2 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem, built as a city which is bound firmly together,

4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

5 There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! "May they prosper who love you!

7 Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers!"

8 For my brethren and companions' sake I will say, "Peace be within you!"

9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.

GOSPEL: Matthew 8: 5 - 11

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5 As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him

6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress."

7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him."

8 But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it."

10 When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.

11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,