Sunday Mass Readings for December 17, 2017

"Saint John the Baptist and the Pharisees"
-- by James Tissot

Third Sunday of Advent

FIRST READING: Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11

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1 The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me: he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives, and deliverance to them that are shut up.

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all the nations.

PSALM: Luke 1:46-50, 53-54

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46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.

47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

48 Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

49 Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.

53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

54 He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy.

SECOND READING: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

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16 Always rejoice.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all.

19 Extinguish not the spirit.

20 Despise not prophecies.

21 But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22 From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves.

23 And may the God of peace himself sanctify you in all things; that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 He is faithful who hath called you, who also will do it.

GOSPEL: John 1:6-8, 19-28

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6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to him, to ask him: Who art thou?

20 And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No.

22 They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias.

24 And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?

26 John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not.

27 The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.

28 These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Daily Mass Readings for Saturday, December 16, 2017

FIRST READING: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

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1 And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch.

2 He brought a famine upon them, and they that provoked him in their envy, were reduced to a small number, for they could not endure the commandments of the Lord.

3 By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and he brought down fire from heaven thrice.

4 Thus was Elias magnified in his wondrous works. And who can glory like to thee?

9 Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses.

10 Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

11 Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honoured with thy friendship.

PSALM: Psalms 80:2- 3, 15- 16, 18- 19

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2 Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth

3 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us.

15 Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:

16 And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.

18 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.

19 And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.

GOSPEL: Matthew 17: 9, 10- 13

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9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.

10 And his disciples asked him, saying: Why then do the scribes say that Elias must come first?

11 But he answering, said to them: Elias indeed shall come, and restore all things.

12 But I say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they had a mind. So also the Son of man shall suffer from them.

13 Then the disciples understood, that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist.

Daily Mass Readings for Wednesday, Friday, December 15, 2017

Friday of the Second Week of Advent

FIRST READING: Isaiah 48:17-19

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17 Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest.

18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea,

19 And thy seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have perished, nor have been destroyed from before my face.

PSALM: Psalms 1:1-4, 6

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1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

4 Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:16-19

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16 But whereunto shall I esteem this generation to be like? It is like to children sitting in the market place.

17 Who crying to their companions say: We have piped to you, and you have not danced: we have lamented, and you have not mourned.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say: He hath a devil.

19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by her children.

Daily Mass Readings for Thursday, December 14, 2017

Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

FIRST READING: Isaiah 41:13-20

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13 For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.

14 Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.

15 I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shall thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff.

16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful.

17 The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers in the high bills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, the elm, and the box tree together:

20 That they may see and know, and consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

PSALM: Psalms 145:1, 9-13

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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.

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:

12 To make thy might known to the sons of men: and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom.

13 Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:11-15

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11 Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is the lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John:

14 And if you will receive it, he is Elias that is to come.

15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.