Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, July 01, 2014

FIRST READING: Amos 3: 1 - 8; 4: 11 - 12

---

1 Hear this word which Yahweh speaks against you, people of Israel, against the whole family which he brought up from the land of Egypt.

2 "Only you have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will call you to account for all your wrongdoings."

3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed?

4 Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion growl in its den unless it has seized something?

5 Does a bird get caught in a snare if the snare has not been baited? Does a tiger spring up from the ground unless it has caught something?

6 If a trumpet sounds in a city, will the people not be frightened? If disaster strikes a city, has not Yahweh caused it?

7 Yet Yahweh does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

8 If the lion roars, who will not be afraid? If Yahweh speaks, who will not prophesy?

11 "I overthrew you, a divine punishment, as happened to Sodom and Gomorrah; you were like a brand snatched from the blaze, yet you never returned to me," says Yahweh.

12 "Therefore I will deal with you in my own way, Israel, and since I will do this to you, prepare, Israel, to meet your God!"

PSALM: Psalms 5: 4 - 8

---

4 From daybreak you hear my voice, from dawn I am in your presence watching for you.

5 You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil has no place in you.

6 The arrogant cannot stand before you. You hate all who do evil;

7 you destroy all who speak falsehood, who thirst for blood and live on lies; all of them the Lord detests.

8 But I, by your love and grace, may come into your house. In reverence I bow down and worship at your holy temple.

GOSPEL: Matthew 8: 23 - 27

---

23 Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him.

24 Without warning a fierce storm hit the lake, with waves sweeping the boat. But Jesus was asleep.

25 They woke him and cried, "Lord save us! We are lost!"

26 But Jesus answered, "Why are you so afraid, you of little faith?" Then he stood up and ordered the wind and sea; and it became completely calm.

27 The people were astonished. They said, "What kind of man is he? Even the winds and the sea obey him."

Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, June 30, 2014

FIRST READING: Amos 2: 6 - 10, 13 - 16

---

6 Yahweh says this, "Because Israel has sinned, not once but three times and even more, I will not relent. They sell the just for money and the needy for a pair of sandals;

7 they tread on the head of the poor and trample them upon the dust of the earth, while they silence the right of the afflicted; a man and his father go to the same woman to profane my holy name;

8 they stretch out upon garments taken in pledge, beside every altar; they take the wine of those they swindle and are drunk in the house of their God.

9 It was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, whose height was like the height of the cedar, a people as sturdy as an oak. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.

10 It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to take possession of the land of the Amorites.

13 Behold, I will crush you to the ground, as a cart does when it is full of sheaves.

14 The swift shall be unable to flee and the strong man shall lose his strength. The warrior shall not save himself nor the bowman stand his ground.

15 The swift of foot shall not escape nor the horseman save himself.

16 Even the most stout-hearted among the warriors shall flee away naked on that day," says Yahweh.

PSALM: Psalms 50: 16 - 23

---

16 But God says this to the wicked: "What right have you to mouth my laws, or to talk about my covenant?

17 You hate my commands and cast my words behind you.

18 You join a thief when you meet one; you keep company with adulterers.

19 You have a mouth of evil and a deceitful tongue.

20 You speak ill of your brother, and slander your own mother's son.

21 Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you.

22 Give this a thought, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces with no one to help you.

23 Those who give with thanks offerings honor me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God."

GOSPEL: Matthew 8: 18 - 22

---

18 When he saw the crowd press around him, Jesus gave orders to cross to the other shore.

19 A teacher of the Law approached him and said, "Master, I will follow you wherever you go."

20 Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

21 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, let me go and bury my father first."

22 But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Sunday Catholic Mass Readings For June 29, 2014

"Saint Peter" (left) and "Saint Paul" (right) -- by James Tissot

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

FIRST READING: Acts 12: 1 - 11

---

1 About that time King Herod decided to persecute some members of the Church.

2 He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword,

3 and when he saw how it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

This happened during the festival of the Unleavened Bread.

4 Herod had him seized and thrown into prison with four squads, each of four soldiers, to guard him. He wanted to bring him to trial before the people after the Passover feast,

5 but while Peter was kept in prison, the whole Church prayed earnestly for him.

6 On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound by a double chain, while guards kept watch at the gate of the prison.

7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there and a light shone in the prison cell. The angel tapped Peter on the side and woke him saying, "Get up quickly!" At once the chains fell from Peter's wrists. The angel said, "Put on your belt and your sandals." Peter did so,

8 and the angel added, "Now, put on your cloak and follow me."

9 Peter followed him out; yet he did not realize that what was happening with the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

10 They passed the first guard and then the second and they came to the iron door leading out to the city, which opened of itself for them. They went out and made their way down a narrow alley, when suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter recovered his senses and said, "Now I know that the Lord has sent his angel and has rescued me from Herod's clutches and from all that the Jews had in store for me."

PSALM: Psalms 34: 2 - 9

---

2 I will bless the Lord all my days; his praise will be ever on my lips.

3 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

4 Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify his name!

5 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; from all my fears he delivered me.

6 They who look to him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame.

7 When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.

8 The Lord's angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear him.

9 Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in him!

SECOND READING: 2 Timothy 4: 6 - 8, 17 - 18

---

6 As for me the time of sacrifice has arrived, and the moment of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness with which the Lord, the just judge, will reward me on that day; and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious coming.

17 But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength to proclaim the Word fully, and let all the pagans hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

18 The Lord will save me from all evil, bringing me to his heavenly kingdom. Glory to him for ever and ever. Amen!

GOSPEL: Matthew 16: 13 - 19

---

13 After that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, "What do people say of the Son of Man? Who do they say I am?"

14 They said, "For some of them you are John the Baptist, for others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

15 Jesus asked them, "But you, who do you say I am?"

16 Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

17 Jesus replied, "It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

18 And now I say to you: You are Peter (or Rock) and on this rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it.

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven."

Catholic Mass Readings For Saturday, June 28, 2014

Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

FIRST READING: Lamentations 2: 2, 10 - 14, 18 - 19

---

2 Without pity Yahweh has shattered in Jacob every dwelling. He has torn down in his anger the ramparts of Judah's daughter. He has thrown her rulers and her king to the ground, dishonored.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit in silence upon the ground, their heads sprinkled with dust, their bodies wrapped in sackcloth, while Jerusalem's young women bow their heads to the ground.

11 With weeping my eyes are spent; my soul is in torment because of the downfall of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the open spaces of the town.

12 To their mothers they say, "Where is the bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets and public squares, as their lives ebb away in their mothers' arms.

13 To what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? Who can save or comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? Deep as the sea is your affliction, and who can possibly heal you?

14 Your prophets' visions were worthless and false. Had they warned of your sins, your fate might have been averted. But what they gave you instead were false, misleading signs.

18 Cry out to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion! Oh, let your tears flow day and night, like a river. Give yourself no relief; grant your eyes no respite.

19 Get up, cry out in the night, as the evening watches start; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.

Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint with hunger at the corner of every street.

PSALM: Psalms 74: 1 - 7, 20 - 21

---

1 O God, have you rejected us forever? Why vent your anger on the sheep of your own fold?

2 Remember the people you have formed of old, the tribe you have redeemed as your inheritance. Remember Mount Zion where you once lived.

3 Climb and visit these hopeless ruins, the enemy has ravaged everything in the sanctuary.

4 Your foes have roared triumphantly in the holy place, and set up their banner of victory.

5 Like lumbermen felling trees,

6 they smashed the carved paneling with hatchets, hammers and axes.

7 They defiled your sanctuary and set aflame the dwelling place of your name.

20 See how they keep your covenant in the dark caves of the land.

21 Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; may the poor and needy praise your name.

GOSPEL: Luke 2: 41 - 51

---

41 Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary.

42 And when Jesus was twelve years old, he went up with them according to the custom for this feast.

43 After the festival was over, they returned, but the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem and his parents did not know it.

44 They thought he was in the company and after walking the whole day they looked for him among their relatives and friends.

45 As they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for him,

46 and on the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

47 And all the people were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

48 His parents were very surprised when they saw him and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for you."

49 Then he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Do you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

50 But they did not understand this answer.

51 Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and he continued to be subject to them. As for his mother, she kept all these things in her heart.