Catholic Mass Readings For Thursday, October 10, 2013

"The Importunate Neighbour" -- by William Holman Hunt

FIRST READING: Malachi 3: 13 - 20

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13 Your words have been unsufferable to me, saith the Lord.

14 And you have said: What have we spoken against thee? You have said: He laboureth in vain that serveth God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked sorrowful before the Lord of hosts?

15 Wherefore now we call the proud people happy, for they that work wickedness are built up, and they have tempted God and are preserved.

16 Then they that feared the Lord spoke every one with his neighbour: and the Lord gave ear, and heard it: and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that fear the Lord, and think on his name.

17 And they shall be my special possession, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I do judgment: and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.

18 And you shall return, and shall see the difference between the just and the wicked: and between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.

19 For behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace: and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall set them on fire, saith the Lord of hosts, it shall not leave them root, nor branch.

20 But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings: and you shall go forth, and shall leap like calves of the herd.

PSALM: Psalms 1: 1 - 4, 6

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1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

4 Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

GOSPEL: Luke 11: 5 - 13

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5 And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves,

6 Because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him.

7 And he from within should answer, and say: Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

8 Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth.

9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.

10 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

11 And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion?

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?

Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, October 09, 2013

FIRST READING: Jonah 4: 1 - 11

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1 And Jonas was exceedingly troubled, and was angry:

2 And he prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord, is not this what I said, when I was yet in my own country? therefore I went before to flee into Tharsis: for I know that thou art a gracious and merciful God, patient, and of much compassion, and easy to forgive evil.

3 And now, O Lord, I beseech thee take my life from me: for it is better for me to die than to live.

4 And the Lord said: Dost thou think thou hast reason to be angry?

5 Then Jonas went out of the city, and sat toward the east side of the city: and he made himself a booth there, and he sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would befall the city.

6 And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, and to cover him (for he was fatigued), and Jonas was exceeding glad of the ivy.

7 But God prepared a worm, when the morning arose on the following day: and it struck the ivy and it withered.

8 And when the sun was risen, the Lord commanded a hot and burning wind: and the sun beat upon the head of Jonas, and he broiled with the heat: and he desired for his soul that he might die, and said: It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And the Lord said to Jonas: Dost thou think thou hast reason to be angry, for the ivy? And he said: I am angry with reason even unto death.

10 And the Lord said: Thou art grieved for the ivy, for which thou hast not laboured, nor made it to grow, which in one night came up, and in one night perished.

11 And shall not I spare Ninive, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that know not how to distinguish between their right hand and their left, and many beasts?

PSALM: Psalms 86: 3 - 6, 9 - 10

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3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.

4 Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.

5 For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my petition.

9 All the nations thou hast made shall come and adore before thee, O Lord: and they shall glorify thy name.

10 For thou art great and dost wonderful things: thou art God alone.

GOSPEL: Luke 11: 1 - 4

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1 And it came to pass, that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

2 And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.

3 Give us this day our daily bread.

4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.

Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, October 08, 2013

FIRST READING: Jonah 3: 1 - 10

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1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonas the second time, saying:

2 Arise, and go to Ninive the great city: and preach in it the preaching that I bid thee.

3 And Jonas arose, and went to Ninive, according to the word of the Lord: now Ninive was a great city of three days' journey.

4 And Jonas began to enter into the city one day's journey: and he cried, and said: Yet forty days, and Ninive shall be destroyed.

5 And the men of Ninive believed in God: and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least.

6 And the word came to the king of Ninive; and he rose up out of his throne, and cast away his robe from him, and was clothed with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published in Ninive from the mouth of the king and of his princes, saying: Let neither men nor beasts, oxen nor sheep, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water.

8 And let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth, and cry to the Lord with all their strength, and let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands.

9 Who can tell if God will turn, and forgive: and will turn away from his fierce anger, and we shall not perish?

10 And God saw their works, that they were turned from their evil way: and God had mercy with regard to the evil which he had said that he would do to them, and he did it not.

PSALM: Psalms 130: 1 - 4, 7 - 8

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1 Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord:

2 Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

3 If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.

4 For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word:

7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

GOSPEL: Luke 10: 38 - 42

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38 Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word.

40 But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her therefore, that she help me.

41 And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, October 07, 2013

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

FIRST READING: Jonah 1: 1 - 2: 1 - 2, 11

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1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying:

2 Arise, and go to Ninive the great city, and preach in it: for the wickedness thereof is come up before me.

3 And Jonas rose up to flee into Tharsis from the face of the Lord, and he went down to Joppe, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to Tharsis from the face of the Lord.

4 But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea: and a great tempest was raised in the sea, and the ship was in danger to be broken.

5 And the mariners were afraid, and the men cried to their god: and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship, into the sea, to lighten it of them: and Jonas went down into the inner part of the ship, and fell into a deep sleep.

6 And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him: Why art thou fast asleep? rise up, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think of us, that we may not perish.

7 And they said every one to his fellow: Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know why this evil is upon us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas.

8 And they said to him: Tell us for what cause this evil is upon us, what is thy business? of what country art thou? and whither goest thou? or of what people art thou?

9 And he said to them: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.

10 And the men were greatly afraid, and they said to him: Why hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the face of the Lord: because he had told them.)

11 And they said to him: What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea flowed and swelled.

12 And he said to them: Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

13 And the men rowed hard to return to land, but they were not able: because the sea tossed and swelled upon them.

14 And they cried to the Lord, and said: We beseech thee, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.

15 And they took Jonas, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from raging.

16 And the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and sacrificed victims to the Lord, and made vows.

1 Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2 And Jonas prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the fish.

11 And the Lord spoke to the fish: and it vomited out Jonas upon the dry land.

PSALM: Jonah 2: 3 - 5, 8

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3 And he said: I cried out of my affliction to the Lord, and he heard me: I cried out of the belly of hell, and thou hast heard my voice.

4 And thou hast cast me forth into the deep in the heart of the sea, and a flood hath compassed me: all thy billows, and thy waves have passed over me.

5 And I said: I am cast away out of the sight of thy eyes: but yet I shall see thy holy temple again.

8 When my soul was in distress within me, I remembered the Lord: that my prayer may come to thee, unto thy holy temple.

GOSPEL: Luke 10: 25 - 37

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25 And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying, Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?

26 But he said to him: What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 He answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said to him: Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbour?

30 And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead.

31 And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by.

32 In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by.

33 But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion.

34 And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee.

36 Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?

37 But he said: He that shewed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do thou in like manner.