Sunday Mass Readings for November 26, 2017

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17

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11 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them.

12 As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

15 I will feed my sheep: and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.

16 I will seek that which was lost: and that which was driven away, I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment.

17 And as for you, O my flocks, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and of he goats.

PSALM: Psalms 23: 1-3, 5-6

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1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters,

3 he restores my soul. He guides me through the right paths for his name's sake.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

6 Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28

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20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep:

21 For by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead.

22 And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

23 But every one in his own order: the firstfruits Christ, then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming.

24 Afterwards the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue.

25 For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.

26 And the enemy death shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet. And whereas he saith,

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then the Son also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

GOSPEL: Matthew 25: 31-46

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31 And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty.

32 And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.

34 Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:

36 Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.

37 Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee?

39 Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee?

40 And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.

41 Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

42 For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink.

43 I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.

44 Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee?

45 Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.

46 And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

Daily Mass Readings for Saturday, November 25, 2017

"Sacred Heart of Jesus"
-- by Pompeo Batoni, 1767

FIRST READING: 1 Maccabees 6: 1-13

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1 But not long after the king sent a certain old man of Antioch, to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers and of God:

2 And to defile the temple that was in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius: and that in Gazarim of Jupiter Hospitalis, according as they were that inhabited the place.

3 And very bad was this invasion of evils and grievous to all.

4 For the temple was full of the riot and revellings of the Gentiles: and of men lying with lewd women. And women thrust themselves of their accord into the holy places, and brought in things that were not lawful.

5 The altar also was filled with unlawful things, which were forbidden by the laws.

6 And neither were the sabbaths kept, nor the solemn days of the fathers observed, neither did any man plainly profess himself to be a Jew.

7 But they were led by bitter constraint on the king's birthday to the sacrifices: and when the feast of Bacchus was kept, they were compelled to go about crowned with ivy in honour of Bacchus.

8 And there went out a decree into the neighbouring cities of the Gentiles, by the suggestion of the Ptolemeans, that they also should act in like manner against the Jews, to oblige them to sacrifice:

9 And whosoever would not conform themselves to the ways of the Gentiles, should be put to death: then was misery to be seen.

10 For two women were accused to have circumcised their children: whom, when they had openly led about through the city with the infants hanging at their breasts, they threw down headlong from the walls.

11 And others that had met together in caves that were near, and were keeping the sabbath day privately, being discovered by Philip, were burnt with fire, because they made a conscience to help themselves with their hands, by reason of the religious observance of the day.

12 Now I beseech those that shall read this book, that they be not shocked at these calamities, but that they consider the things that happened, not as being for the destruction, but for the correction of our nation.

13 For it is a token of great goodness when sinners are not suffered to go on in their ways for a long time, but are presently punished.

PSALM: Psalms 9: 2-4, 6, 16, 19

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2 I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will relate all thy wonders.

3 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou most high.

4 When my enemy shall be turned back: they shall be weakened and perish before thy face.

6 Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished: thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.

16 I will rejoice in thy salvation: the Gentiles have stuck fast in the destruction which they have prepared. Their foot hath been taken in the very snare which they hid.

19 For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.

GOSPEL: Luke 20: 27-40

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27 And there came to him some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, and they asked him,

28 Saying: Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he leave no children, that his brother should take her to wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.

30 And the next took her to wife, and he also died childless.

31 And the third took her. And in like manner all the seven, and they left no children, and died.

32 Last of all the woman died also.

33 In the resurrection therefore, whose wife of them shall she be? For all the seven had her to wife.

34 And Jesus said to them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

35 But they that shall be accounted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, shall neither be married, nor take wives.

36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

37 Now that the dead rise again, Moses also shewed, at the bush, when he called the Lord, The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;

38 For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.

39 And some of the scribes answering, said to him: Master, thou hast said well.

40 And after that they durst not ask him any more questions.

Daily Mass Readings for Friday, November 24, 2017

"The Merchants Chased from the Temple"
-- by James Tissot

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

FIRST READING: 1 Maccabees 4: 36-37, 52-59

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36 Then Judas, and his brethren said: Behold our enemies are discomfited: let us go up now to cleanse the holy places and to repair them.

37 And all the army assembled together, and they went up into mount Sion.

52 And they arose before the morning on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month (which is the month of Casleu) in the hundred and forty-eighth year.

53 And they offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of holocausts which they had made.

54 According to the time, and according to the day wherein the heathens had defiled it, in the same was it dedicated anew with canticles, and harps, and lutes, and cymbals.

55 And all the people fell upon their faces, and adored, and blessed up to heaven, him that had prospered them.

56 And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and they offered holocausts with joy, and sacrifices of salvation, and of praise.

57 And they adorned the front of the temple with crowns of gold, and escutcheons, and they renewed the gates, and the chambers, and hanged doors upon them.

58 And there was exceeding great joy among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away.

59 And Judas, and his brethren, and all the church of Israel decreed, that the day of the dedication of the altar should be kept in its season from year to year for eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Casleu, with joy and gladness.

PSALM: 1 Chronicles 29: 10-12

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10 And he blessed the Lord before all the multitude, and he said: Blessed art thou, O Lord the God of Israel, our father from eternity to eternity.

11 Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes.

12 Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over all, in thy hand is power and might: in thy hand greatness, and the empire of all things.

GOSPEL: Luke 19: 45-48

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45 And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought.

46 Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him:

48 And they found not what to do to him: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

Daily Mass Readings for November 23, 2017, and for Thanksgiving Day (United States)

(Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time)

Optional Memorial of Pope Saint Clement 1, 
Apostolic Father, and Martyr

FIRST READING: 1 Maccabees 2: 15-29

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15 And they that were sent from king Antiochus came thither, to compel them that were fled into the city of Modin, to sacrifice, and to burn incense, and to depart from the law of God.

16 And many of the people of Israel consented, and came to them: but Mathathias and his sons stood firm.

17 And they that were sent from Antiochus, answering, said to Mathathias: Thou art a ruler, and an honourable, and great man in this city, and adorned with sons, and brethren.

18 Therefore come thou first, and obey the king's commandment, as all nations have done, and the men of Juda, and they that remain in Jerusalem: and thou, and thy sons, shall be in the number of the king's friends, and enriched with gold, and silver, and many presents.

19 Then Mathathias answered, and said with a loud voice: Although all nations obey king Antiochus, so as to depart every man from the service of the law of his fathers, and consent to his commandments:

20 I and my sons, and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers.

21 God be merciful unto us: it is not profitable for us to forsake the law, and the justices of God:

22 We will not hearken to the words of king Antiochus, neither will we sacrifice, and transgress the commandments of our law, to go another way.

23 Now as he left off speaking these words, there came a certain Jew in the sight of all to sacrifice to the idols upon the altar in the city of Modin, according to the king's commandment.

24 And Mathathias saw and was grieved, and his reins trembled, and his wrath was kindled according to the judgment of the law, and running upon him he slew him upon the altar:

25 Moreover the man whom king Antiochus had sent, who compelled them to sacrifice, he slew at the same time, and pulled down the altar.

26 And shewed zeal for the law, as Phinees did by Zamri the son of Salomi.

27 And Mathathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Every one that hath zeal for the law, and maintaineth the testament, let him follow me.

28 So he, and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they had in the city.

29 Then many that sought after judgment, and justice, went down into the desert.

PSALM: Psalms 50: 1-2, 5-6, 14-15

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1 The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken: and he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof:

2 Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.

5 Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant before sacrifices.

6 And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge.

14 Offer to God the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High.

15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

GOSPEL: Luke 19: 41-44

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41 And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:

42 If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes.

43 For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side,

44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.

Thanksgiving Day Readings (United States)

"The Healing of Ten Lepers"
-- by James Tissot

FIRST READING: Sirach 50: 22-24

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22 And now, bless the Lord of all who everywhere does great things, who exalts our days from birth and is merciful to us.

23 May he give us happiness and grant peace to Israel in our days and forever!

24 May he continue to give us his blessings and be a savior to us in our days.

PSALM: Psalms 145: 1-11

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1 I will extol thee, O God my king: and I will bless thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless thee: and I will praise thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end.

4 Generation and generation shall praise thy works: and they shall declare thy power.

5 They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness: and shall tell thy wondrous works.

6 And they shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and shall declare thy greatness.

7 They shall publish the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness: and shall rejoice in thy justice.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy.

9 The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

10 Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee.

11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell of thy power.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9

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3 Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Christ Jesus,

5 That in all things you are made rich in him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

6 As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

7 So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8 Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 God is faithful: by whom you are called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

GOSPEL: Luke 17: 11-19

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11 And it came to pass, as he was going to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12 And as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off;

13 And lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, master, have mercy on us.

14 Whom when he saw, he said: Go, shew yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, they were made clean.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back, with a loud voice glorifying God.

16 And he fell on his face before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering, said, Were not ten made clean? and where are the nine?

18 There is no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger.

19 And he said to him: Arise, go thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole.