Catholic Mass Readings For Friday, August 09, 2013

Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 4: 32 - 40

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32 Ask of the days of old, that have been before thy time from the day that God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to the other end thereof, if ever there was done the like thing, or it hath been known at any time,

33 That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire, as thou hast heard, and lived:

34 If God ever did so as to go, and take to himself a nation out of the midst of nations by temptations, signs, and wonders, by fight, and a strong hand, and stretched out arm, and horrible visions according to all the things that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before thy eyes.

35 That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

36 From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might teach thee. And upon earth he shewed thee his exceeding great fire, and thou didst hear his words out of the midst of the fire,

37 Because he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them. And he brought thee out of Egypt, going before thee with his great power,

38 To destroy at thy coming very great nations, and stronger than thou art, and to bring thee in, and give thee their land for a possession, as thou seest at this present day.

39 Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other.

40 Keep his precepts and commandments, which I command thee: that it may be well with thee, and thy children after thee, and thou mayst remain a long time upon the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.

PSALM: Psalms 77: 12 - 16, 21

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12 And I will meditate on all thy works: and will be employed in thy inventions.

13 Thy way, O God, is in the holy place: who is the great God like our God?

14 Thou art the God that dost wonders. Thou hast made thy power known among the nations:

15 With thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people the children of Jacob and of Joseph.

16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled.

21 Thou hast conducted thy people like sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

GOSPEL: Matthew 16: 24 - 28

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24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

26 For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?

27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then will he render to every man according to his works.

28 Amen I say to you, there are some of them that stand here, that shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Catholic Mass Readings For Thursday, August 08, 2013

"Get Thee Behind Me Satan" -- by James Tissot

Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest

FIRST READING: Numbers 20: 1 - 13

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1 And the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the desert of Sin, in the first month: and the people abode in Cades. And Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.

2 And the people wanting water, came together against Moses and Aaron:

3 And making a sedition, they said: Would God we had perished among our brethren before the Lord.

4 Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the wilderness, that both we and our cattle should die?

5 Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, and have brought us into this wretched place which cannot be sowed, nor bringeth forth figs, nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink?

6 And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied, they may cease to murmur. And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.

7 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

8 Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the multitude and their cattle shall drink.

9 Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had commanded him,

10 And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you forth water out of this rock?

11 And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank,

12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them.

13 This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

PSALM: Psalms 95: 1 - 2, 6 - 9

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1 Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

6 Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.

7 For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

8 Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

9 As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

GOSPEL: Matthew 16: 13 - 23

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13 And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is?

14 But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am?

16 Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

20 Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.

21 From that time Jesus began to shew to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again.

22 And Peter taking him, began to rebuke him, saying: Lord, be it far from thee, this shall not be unto thee.

23 Who turning, said to Peter: Go behind me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto me: because thou savourest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men.

Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, August 07, 2013

"The Canaanite's Daughter" -- by James Tissot

FIRST READING: Numbers 13: 1 - 2, 25 - 33 -- 14: 1, 26 - 29, 34 - 35

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1 And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying.

2 Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.

25 And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty days, having gone round all the country,

26 And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits of the land:

27 And they related and said: We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be known by these fruits:

28 But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.

29 Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.

30 In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to conquer it.

31 But the others, that had been with him, said: No, we are not able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.

32 And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before the children of Israel, saying: The land which we have viewed, devoureth its inhabitants: the people, that we beheld, are of a tall stature.

33 There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind: in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.

1 Wherefore the whole multitude crying wept that night.

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

27 How long doth this wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.

28 Say therefore to them: As I live, saith the Lord: According as you have spoken in my hearing, so will I do to you.

29 In the wilderness shall your carcasses lie. All you that were numbered from twenty years old and upward, and have murmured against me,

34 According to the number of the forty days, wherein you viewed the land: year shall be counted for a day. And forty years you shall receive your iniquities, and shall know my revenge:

35 For as I have spoken, so will I do to all this wicked multitude, that hath risen up together against me: in this wilderness shall it faint away and die.

PSALM: Psalms 106: 6 - 7, 13 - 14, 21 - 23

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6 We have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly, we have wrought iniquity.

7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt: they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies: And they provoked to wrath going up to the sea, even the Red Sea.

13 They had quickly done, they forgot his works: and they waited not for his counsels.

14 And they coveted their desire in the desert: and they tempted God in the place without water.

21 They forgot God, who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,

22 Wondrous works in the land of Cham: terrible things in the Red Sea.

23 And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

GOSPEL: Matthew 15: 21 - 28

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21 And Jesus went from thence, and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grieviously troubled by the devil.

23 Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us:

24 And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.

25 But she came and adored him, saying: Lord, help me.

26 Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.

27 But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.

28 Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour.

Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, August 06, 2013

"The Transfiguration" -- by James Tissot

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

FIRST READING: Daniel 7: 9 - 10, 13 - 14

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9 I beheld till thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire.

10 A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened.

13 I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him.

14 And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.

PSALM: Psalms 97: 1 - 2, 5 - 6, 9

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1 The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.

2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne.

5 The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord: at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory.

9 For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.

SECOND READING: 2 Peter 1: 16 - 19

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16 For we have not by following artificial fables, made known to you the power, and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we were eyewitnesses of his greatness.

17 For he received from God the Father, honour and glory: this voice coming down to him from the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

18 And this voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount.

19 And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.

GOSPEL: Luke 9: 28 - 36

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28 And it came to pass about eight days after these words, that he took Peter, and James, and John, and went up into a mountain to pray.

29 And whilst he prayed, the shape of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became white and glittering.

30 And behold two men were talking with him. And they were Moses and Elias,

31 Appearing in majesty. And they spoke of his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem.

32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep. And waking, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

33 And it came to pass, that as they were departing from him, Peter saith to Jesus: Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias; not knowing what he said.

34 And as he spoke these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them; and they were afraid, when they entered into the cloud.

35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son; hear him.

36 And whilst the voice was uttered, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of these things which they had seen.