Mass Readings Friday February 9, 2007

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Gn 3:1-8

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animalsthat the LORD God had made.The serpent asked the woman,"Did God really tell you not to eatfrom any of the trees in the garden?"The woman answered the serpent:"We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;it is only about the fruit of the treein the middle of the garden that God said,‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’"But the serpent said to the woman:"You certainly will not die!No, God knows well that the moment you eat of ityour eyes will be opened and you will be like godswho know what is good and what is evil."The woman saw that the tree was good for food,pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.So she took some of its fruit and ate it;and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,and he ate it.Then the eyes of both of them were opened,and they realized that they were naked;so they sewed fig leaves togetherand made loincloths for themselves.

When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the gardenat the breezy time of the day,the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD Godamong the trees of the garden.

********************

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

R. (1a) Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,

in whose spirit there is no guile.

R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,

my guilt I covered not.

I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”

and you took away the guilt of my sin.

R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

For this shall every faithful man pray to you

in time of stress.

Though deep waters overflow,

they shall not reach him.

R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;

with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.

R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

********************

Gospel

Mk 7:31-37

Jesus left the district of Tyreand went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impedimentand begged him to lay his hand on him.He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man(s earsand, spitting, touched his tongue;then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")And immediately the man’s ears were opened,his speech impediment was removed,and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to,the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said,"He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

********************

Catholic

Religion
Roman Catholic
Christianity
Catholic Blogs

Mass Readings for Thursday February 8, 2007

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Gn 2:18-25

The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.I will make a suitable partner for him."So the LORD God formed out of the groundvarious wild animals and various birds of the air,and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;whatever the man called each of them would be its name.The man gave names to all the cattle,all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribsand closed up its place with flesh.The LORD God then built up into a womanthe rib that he had taken from the man.When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh;this one shall be called ‘woman,’for out of "her man’ this one has been taken."

That is why a man leaves his father and motherand clings to his wife,and the two of them become one flesh.

The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

*******************

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,

who walk in his ways!

For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;

blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

in the recesses of your home;

Your children like olive plants

around your table.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Behold, thus is the man blessed

who fears the LORD.

The LORD bless you from Zion:

may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

*******************

Gospel

Mk 7:24-30

Jesus went to the district of Tyre.He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,but he could not escape notice.Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.She came and fell at his feet.The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.He said to her, "Let the children be fed first.For it is not right to take the food of the childrenand throw it to the dogs."She replied and said to him,"Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps."Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go.The demon has gone out of your daughter."When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bedand the demon gone.

*******************

Catholic

Religion
Roman Catholic
Christianity
Catholic Blogs

Mass Readings Wednesday February 7, 2007

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17

At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens—while as yet there was no field shrub on earthand no grass of the field had sprouted,for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earthand there was no man to till the soil, but a stream was welling up out of the earthand was watering all the surface of the ground—the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the groundand blew into his nostrils the breath of life,and so man became a living being.

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,and he placed there the man whom he had formed.Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees growthat were delightful to look at and good for food,with the tree of life in the middle of the gardenand the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The LORD God then took the manand settled him in the garden of Eden,to cultivate and care for it.The LORD God gave man this order:"You are free to eat from any of the trees of the gardenexcept the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat;the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die."

*******************

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 104:1-2a, 27-28, 29bc-30

R. (1a) O bless the Lord, my soul!

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!

You are clothed with majesty and glory,

robed in light as with a cloak.

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

All creatures look to you

to give them food in due time.

When you give it to them, they gather it;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

If you take away their breath, they perish

and return to their dust.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created,

and you renew the face of the earth.

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

*******************

Gospel

Mk 7:14-23

Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,"Hear me, all of you, and understand.Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;but the things that come out from within are what defile."

When he got home away from the crowdhis disciples questioned him about the parable.He said to them,"Are even you likewise without understanding?Do you not realize that everythingthat goes into a person from outside cannot defile,since it enters not the heart but the stomachand passes out into the latrine?"(Thus he declared all foods clean.)"But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.From within the man, from his heart,come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,adultery, greed, malice, deceit,licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.All these evils come from within and they defile."

*******************

Catholic

Religion
Roman Catholic
Christianity
Catholic Blogs

Mass Readings for Tuesday February 6, 2007

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki, martyr, and his companions, martyrs

Reading 1

Gn 1:20-2:4a

God said,"Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky."And so it happened:God created the great sea monstersand all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,and all kinds of winged birds.God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,"Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;and let the birds multiply on the earth."Evening came, and morning followed the fifth day.

Then God said,"Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds."And so it happened:God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.God saw how good it was.Then God said:"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,the birds of the air, and the cattle,and over all the wild animalsand all the creatures that crawl on the ground."

God created man in his image;in the divine image he created him;male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying:"Be fertile and multiply;fill the earth and subdue it.Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,and all the living things that move on the earth."God also said:"See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earthand every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,I give all the green plants for food."And so it happened.God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.Evening came, and morning followed the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

********************

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (2ab) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars which you set in place—

What is man that you should be mindful of him,

or the son of man that you should care for him?

R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

You have made him little less than the angels,

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him rule over the works of your hands,

putting all things under his feet.

R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

All sheep and oxen,

yes, and the beasts of the field,

The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,

and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

********************

Gospel

Mk 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalemgathered around Jesus,they observed that some of his disciples ate their mealswith unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.

(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,do not eat without carefully washing their hands,keeping the tradition of the elders.And on coming from the marketplacethey do not eat without purifying themselves.And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,"Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the eldersbut instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"He responded,"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,as it is written:

This people honors me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me;in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines human precepts.

You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition."He went on to say,"How well you have set aside the commandment of Godin order to uphold your tradition!For Moses said,Honor your father and your mother,and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.Yet you say,‘If someone says to father or mother,‘Any support you might have had from me is qorban/’(meaning, dedicated to God),you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.You nullify the word of Godin favor of your tradition that you have handed on.And you do many such things."

********************

Catholic

Religion
Roman Catholic
Christianity
Catholic Blogs