Mass Readings for Saturday January 16, 2010

 St. Berard, OFM, Priest and Companions, Protomartyrs (Memorial)

FIRST READING: 1 Samuel 9: 1 – 4, 17 – 19; 10: 1

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1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abi'el, son of Zeror, son of Beco'rath, son of Aphi'ah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth;

2 and he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

3 Now the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, "Take one of the servants with you, and arise, go and look for the asses."

4 And they passed through the hill country of E'phraim and passed through the land of Shal'ishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Sha'alim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.

17 When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall rule over my people."

18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate, and said, "Tell me where is the house of the seer?"

19 Samuel answered Saul, "I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind.

1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. 

 

PSALM: Psalms 21: 2 – 7

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2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withheld the request of his lips. [Selah]

3 For thou dost meet him with goodly blessings; thou dost set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

4 He asked life of thee; thou gavest it to him, length of days for ever and ever.

5 His glory is great through thy help; splendor and majesty thou dost bestow upon him.

6 Yea, thou dost make him most blessed for ever; thou dost make him glad with the joy of thy presence.

7 For the king trusts in the LORD; and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. 

 

GOSPEL: Mark 2: 13 – 17

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13 He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them.

14 And as he passed on, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.

16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

Mass Readings for Friday January 15, 2010

FIRST READING: 1 Samuel 8: 4 - 7, 10 - 22

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4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,

5 and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations."

6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD.

7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking a king from him.

11 He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots;

12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

16 He will take your menservants and maidservants, and the best of your cattle and your asses, and put them to his work.

17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.

18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day."

19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No! but we will have a king over us,

20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."

21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD.

22 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to their voice, and make them a king." Samuel then said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his city." 

 

PSALM: Psalms 89: 16 – 19

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16 who exult in thy name all the day, and extol thy righteousness.

17 For thou art the glory of their strength; by thy favor our horn is exalted.

18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Of old thou didst speak in a vision to thy faithful one, and say: "I have set the crown upon one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. 

 

GOSPEL: Mark 2: 1 - 12

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1 And when he returned to Caper'na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them.

3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.

5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven."

6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,

7 "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thus in your hearts?

9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise, take up your pallet and walk'?

10 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralytic --

11 "I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home."

12 And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

Mass Readings for Thursday January 14, 2010

FIRST READING: 1 Samuel 4: 1 – 11

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1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines; they encamped at Ebene'zer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the field of battle.

3 And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies."

4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phin'ehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.

6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, "What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp,

7 the Philistines were afraid; for they said, "A god has come into the camp." And they said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.

9 Take courage, and acquit yourselves like men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; acquit yourselves like men and fight."

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home; and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

11 And the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phin'ehas, were slain. 

PSALM: Psalms 44: 10 - 11, 14 - 15, 24 - 25

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10 Thou hast made us turn back from the foe; and our enemies have gotten spoil.

11 Thou hast made us like sheep for slaughter, and hast scattered us among the nations.

14 Thou hast made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face,

24 Why dost thou hide thy face? Why dost thou forget our affliction and oppression?

25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body cleaves to the ground.

GOSPEL: Mark 1: 40 - 45

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40 And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean."

42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

43 And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once,

44 and said to him, "See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people."

45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.