Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Optional Memorial)

FIRST READING: Isaiah 10: 5 - 7, 13 - 16

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5 Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands.

6 I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.

13 For he hath said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have taken the spoils of the princes, and as a mighty man hath pulled down them that sat on high.

14 And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest; and as eggs are gathered, that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise.

15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood.

16 Therefore the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of a fire.

PSALM: Psalms 94: 5 - 10, 14 - 15

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5 Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance.

6 They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless.

7 And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand.

8 Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last.

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?

10 He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge?

14 For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance.

15 Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 25 - 27

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25 At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones.

26 Yea, Father; for so hath it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.

Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

FIRST READING: Isaiah 7: 1 - 9

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1 And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Basin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to fight against it: but they could not prevail over it.

2 And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

3 And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller’s field.

4 And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these fire brands, smoking with the wrath of the fury of Rasin king of Syria, and of the son of Romelia.

5 Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying:

6 Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof.

7 Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be.

8 But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Basin: and within threescore and five years, Ephraim shall cease to be a people:

9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue.

PSALM: Psalms 48: 2 - 8

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2 Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

3 With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.

4 In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her.

5 For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they gathered together.

6 So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were moved:

7 Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labour.

8 With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 20 - 24

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20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein were done the most of his miracles, for that they had not done penance.

21 Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? thou shalt go down even unto hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day.

24 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, July 14, 2014

Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin

FIRST READING: Isaiah 1: 10 - 17

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10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.

11 To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.

12 When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?

13 Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked.

14 My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.

15 And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,

17 Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.

PSALM: Psalms 50: 8 - 9, 16 - 17, 21, 23

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8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices: and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight.

9 I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he goats out of thy flocks.

16 But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth?

17 Seeing thou hast hated discipline: and hast cast my words behind thee.

21 These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face.

23 The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of God.

GOSPEL: Matthew 10: 34 -- 11: 1

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34 Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.

35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

36 And a man's enemies shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.

40 He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he passed from thence, to teach and preach in their cities.

Sunday Catholic Mass Readings For July 13, 2014

FIRST READING: Isaiah 55: 10 - 11

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10 As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat,

11 so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me idle, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which it has been sent.

PSALM: Psalms 65: 10 - 14

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10 You water the land and care for it, enriching it with natural resources. God's stream is filled with water; so you prepare the earth to give us its fruits.

11 You drench the furrows in the land and level the ridges, you soften the soil with showers and bless its crops.

12 You crown the year with your goodness; abundance flows everywhere.

13 The deserts have become pasture land, the hills are clothed with gladness,

14 the meadows covered with flocks, the valleys decked with grain - they shout and sing for joy.

SECOND READING: Romans 8: 18 - 23

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18 I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us.

19 All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God.

20 For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it. But it is not without hope;

21 for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth.

23 Not creation alone, but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well.

GOSPEL: Matthew 13: 1 - 23 OR Matthew 13: 1 - 9

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1 That same day Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside.

2 As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore,

3 and he spoke to them in parables about many things.

4 Jesus said, "The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up.

5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep.

6 But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots.

7 Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants.

8 Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty.

9 If you have ears, then hear!"

10 Then his disciples came to him with the question, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

11 Jesus answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people.

12 For the one who has, will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has.

13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen or understand.

14 In them the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled: Much as you hear, you do not understand; much as you see, you do not perceive.

15 For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back and I would heal them.

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

17 For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear it.

18 Now listen to the parable of the sower.

19 When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.

20 The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy.

21 But this fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.

22 The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit.

23 As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more."

OR

1 That same day Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside.

2 As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore,

3 and he spoke to them in parables about many things.

4 Jesus said, "The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up.

5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep.

6 But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots.

7 Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants.

8 Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty.

9 If you have ears, then hear!"