Catholic Mass Readings For Friday, July 11, 2014

Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot

FIRST READING: Hosea 14: 2 - 10

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2 Return to your God Yahweh, O Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall.

3 Return to Yahweh with humble words. Say to him, "Oh you who show compassion to the fatherless forgive our debt, be appeased. Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips.

4 Assyria will not save us: no longer shall we look for horses nor ever again shall we say 'Our gods' to the work of our hands."

5 I will heal their wavering and love them with all my heart for my anger has turned from them.

6 I shall be like dew to Israel like the lily will he blossom. Like a cedar he will send down his roots;

7 his young shoots will grow and spread. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar.

8 They will dwell in my shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine, and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.

9 What would Ephraim do with idols, when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree;

all your fruitfulness comes from me.

10 Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand? Straight are the ways of Yahweh: the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.

PSALM: Psalms 51: 3 - 4, 8 - 9, 12 - 14, 17

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3 Have mercy on me, O God, in your love. In your great compassion blot out my sin.

4 Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

8 I know you desire truth in the heart, teach me wisdom in my inmost being.

9 Cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

12 Create in me, O God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit.

13 Do not cast me out of your presence nor take your holy spirit from me.

14 Give me again the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.

17 O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare your praise.

GOSPEL: Matthew 10: 16 - 23

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16 Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves.

17 Be on your guard with respect to people, for they will hand you over to their courts and they will flog you in their synagogues.

18 You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, and so you may witness to them and the pagans.

19 But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say.

20 For it is not you who will speak; but it will be the Spirit of your Father in you.

21 Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death.

22 Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.

23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For sure, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Catholic Mass Readings For Thursday, July 10, 2014

FIRST READING: Hosea 11: 1 - 4, 8 - 9

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1 I loved Israel when he was a child; out of Egypt I called my son.

2 But the more I have called, the further have they gone from me - sacrificing to the Baals, burning incense to the idols.

3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; yet little did they realize that it was I who cared for them.

4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with leading strings of love, and I became for them as one who eases the yoke upon their neck and stoops down to feed them.

8 How can I give you up, Ephraim? Can I abandon you like Admah or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is troubled within me and I am moved with compassion.

9 I will not give vent to my great anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not human. I am the Holy One in your midst and I do not want to come to you in anger.

PSALM: Psalms 80: 2 - 3, 15 - 16

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2 Listen, O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit enthroned between the cherubim.

3 Shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might and come to save us.

15 Turn again, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine,

16 and protect the stock your hand has planted.

GOSPEL: Matthew 10: 7 - 15

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7 Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.

8 Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift.

9 Do not carry any gold, silver or copper in your purses.

10 Do not carry a traveler's bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or walking-stick: workers deserve their living.

11 When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person and stay there until you leave.

12 As you enter the house, wish it peace.

13 If the people in the house deserve it, your peace will be on them; if they do not deserve it, your blessing will come back to you.

14 And if you are not welcomed and your words are not listened to, leave that house or that town and shake the dust off your feet.

15 I assure you, it will go easier for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than it will for the people of that town.

Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, July 09, 2014

FIRST READING: Hosea 10: 1 - 3, 7 - 8, 12

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1 Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the more his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones.

2 Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces.

3 Now they say, "We have no king (because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?"

7 As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water.

8 The idolatrous high places - the sin of Israel - will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains: "Cover us," and to the hills: "Fall on us."

12 Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking Yahweh until he comes to rain salvation on you.

PSALM: Psalms 105: 2 - 7

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2 Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

3 Glory in his holy name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4 Look to the Lord and be strong; seek his face always.

5 Remember his wonderful works, his miracles and his judgments,

6 you descendants of his servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments reach the whole world.

GOSPEL: Matthew 10: 1 - 7

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1 Then he called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over the unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew;

3 James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

4 Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray him.

5 Jesus sent these twelve on mission with the instruction: "Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town.

6 Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.

7 Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.

Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, July 08, 2014

FIRST READING: Hosea 8: 4 - 7, 11 - 13

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4 Without my approval they set up kings and without my blessing appointed leaders. With their silver and gold they fashioned idols to their own ruin.

5 To me, Samaria, your calf is loathsome and my anger blazes against you. How long will you remain defiled?

6 The calf is yours, Israel, a craftsman has made it; it is not God and will be broken into pieces.

7 As they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. Like the erect ear of corn they will bear no grain and produce no flour, or if they do, foreigners will devour it.

11 Ephraim built many altars but his altars made him more guilty.

12 I wrote out for him the numerous precepts of my Law, but they look on them as coming from foreigners.

13 They offer sacrifices to me because they are those who eat the meat, but Yahweh does not accept their sacrifices for he is mindful of their sin and remembers their wickedness. They will return to Egypt.

PSALM: Psalms 115: 3 - 10

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3 There in heaven is our God; whatever he wishes, he does.

4 Not so the hand-made idols, crafted in silver and gold.

5 They have mouths that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see,

6 ears that cannot hear, noses that cannot smell.

7 They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk; neither can they make a sound in their throat.

8 Their makers will be like them, so will all who trust in them.

9 O Israel, trust in the Lord; he is your help and your shield!

10 You, family of Aaron, trust in the Lord; he is your help and your shield!

GOSPEL: Matthew 9: 32 - 38

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32 When they had just left, some people brought to Jesus a man who was dumb because he was possessed by a demon.

33 When the demon was driven out, the dumb man began to speak. The crowds were astonished and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." (

34 But the Pharisees said, "He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.")

35 Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and he cured every sickness and disease.

36 When he saw the crowds he was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the workers are only few.

38 Ask the master of the harvest to send workers to gather his harvest."