Catholic Mass Readings For Wednesday, July 23, 2014

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 1: 1, 4 - 10

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1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

4 A word of Yahweh came to me,

5 "Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even before you were born I had set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations!"

6 I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! I do not know how to speak; I am still young!"

7 But Yahweh replied, "Do not say; 'I am still young', for now you will go whatever be the mission I am entrusting to you, and you will speak of whatever I command you to say.

8 Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you - it is Yahweh who speaks!"

9 Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth.

10 See! Today I give you authority over nations and over kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

PSALM: Psalms 71: 1 - 6, 15, 17

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1 In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; let me not be disgraced.

2 In your justice help me and deliver me, turn your ear to me and save me!

3 Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of cruel and violent people.

5 For you, O Lord, have been my hope, my trust, O God, from my youth.

6 I have relied on you from birth: from my mother's womb you brought me forth. My praise is of you continually.

15 My lips will proclaim your intervention and tell of your salvation all day, little though it is what I can understand.

17 You have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim your marvels.

GOSPEL: 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!"

Catholic Mass Readings For Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene

FIRST READING: Micah 7: 14 - 15, 18 - 20

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14 Shepherd your people with your staff, shepherd the flock of your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead

15 as in the days of old, in the days when you went out of Egypt.

Show us your wonders.

18 Who is a god like you, who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of his inheritance?

Who is like you whose anger does not last? For you delight in merciful forgiveness.

19 Once again you will show us your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

20 Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

PSALM: Psalms 85: 2 - 8

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2 You have favored your land, O Lord; you have brought back the exiles of Jacob.

3 You have forgiven the sin of your people; you have pardoned their offenses.

4 You have withdrawn your wrath and turned from your burning rage.

5 But restore us, God our savior; put away altogether your indignation.

6 Will your anger be ever with us, carried over to all generations?

7 Will you not give us life anew, that your people may rejoice in you?

8 Show us, O Lord, your unfailing love and grant us your saving help.

GOSPEL: John 20: 1 - 2, 11 - 18

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1 Now, on the first day after the sabbath, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark and she saw that the stone blocking the tomb had been moved away.

2 She ran to Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. And she said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have laid him."

11 Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she bent down to look inside;

12 she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet.

13 They said, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She answered, "Because they have taken my Lord and I don't know where they have put him."

14 As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him.

15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and answered him, "Lord, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him, "Rabboni" - which means, Master.

17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me; you see I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them: I am ascending to my Father, who is your Father, to my God, who is your God."

18 So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me."

Catholic Mass Readings For Monday, July 21, 2014

Feast of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church

FIRST READING: Micah 6: 1 - 4, 6 - 8

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1 Listen to what Yahweh said to me, "Stand up, let the mountains hear your claim, and the hills listen to your plea."

2 Hear, O mountains, Yahweh's complaint! Foundations of the earth, pay attention! For Yahweh has a case against his people, and will argue it with Israel.

3 "O my people, what have I done to you? In what way have I been a burden to you? Answer me.

4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from the land of bondage; I sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead you.

6 "What shall I bring when I come to Yahweh and bow down before God the most high? Shall I come with burnt offerings, with sacrifices of yearling calves?

7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with an overabundance of oil libations? Should I offer my firstborn for my sins, the fruit of my body for my wrongdoing?"

8 "You have been told, O man, what is good and what Yahweh requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

PSALM: Psalms 50: 5 - 6, 8 - 9, 16 - 17, 21, 23

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5 "Gather before me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

6 The heavens will proclaim his sentence, for God himself is the judge.

8 Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before me.

9 I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

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.

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.

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 12: 38 - 42

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38 Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

39 Jesus answered them, "An evil and unfaithful people want a sign, but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40 In the same way that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the monster fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the depths of the earth.

41 At the judgment, the people of Niniveh will rise with this generation and condemn it, because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here there is greater than Jonah.

42 At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you. She came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here there is greater than Solomon.

Sunday Catholic Mass Readings For July 20, 2014

FIRST READING: Wisdom 12: 13, 16 - 19

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13 For there is no other god besides you, one who cares for everyone, who could ask you to justify your judgments;

16 Your strength is the source of your justice and because you are the Lord of all, you can be merciful to everyone.

17 To those who doubt your sovereign power you show your strength and you confound the insolence of those who ignore it.

18 But you, the Lord of strength, judge with prudence and govern us with great patience, because you are able to do anything at the time you want.

19 In this way you have taught your people that a righteous person must love his human fellows; you have also given your people cause for hope by prompting them to repent of their sin.

PSALM: Psalms 86: 5 - 6, 9 - 10, 15 - 16

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5 You are good and forgiving, O Lord, caring for those who call on you.

6 Listen, O Lord, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.

9 All the nations you have made will come; they will worship before you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name.

10 For you are great, and wonderful are your deeds; you alone are God.

15 But you, O Lord God, are merciful, slow to anger, loving and faithful.

16 Turn to me, take pity on me; give your strength to your servant, and save the child of your handmaid.

SECOND READING: Romans 8: 26 - 27

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26 We are weak, but the Spirit comes to help us. How to ask? And what shall we ask for? We do not know, but the spirit intercedes for us without words, as if with groans.

27 And He who sees inner secrets knows the desires of the Spirit, for he asks for the holy ones what is pleasing to God.

GOSPEL: Matthew 13: 24 - 43 OR Matthew 13: 24 - 30

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24 Jesus told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

25 While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.

26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.

27 Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: 'Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?'

28 He answered them: 'This is the work of an enemy.' They asked him: 'Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?'

29 He told them: 'No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.

30 Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn."

31 Jesus put another parable before them, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, that a man took and sowed in his field.

32 It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it has fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches."

33 He told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast which a woman took and buried in three measures of flour until the whole mass of dough began to rise."

34 Jesus taught all this to the crowds by means of parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

35 So what the Prophet had said was fulfilled: I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.

36 Then he sent the crowds away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

37 Jesus answered them, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the Kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one.

39 The enemy who sows them is the devil; the harvest is the end of time and the workers are the angels.

40 Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time.

41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil.

42 And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.

OR

24 Jesus told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

25 While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.

26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.

27 Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: 'Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?'

28 He answered them: 'This is the work of an enemy.' They asked him: 'Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?'

29 He told them: 'No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.

30 Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn."