Mass Readings for Friday, March 19, 2010

Saint Joseph, Foster Father of Our Lord, Husband of the Virgin Mary (Solemnity)
Lenten Weekday (Total Consecration - Day 28)

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 7: 4 - 5, 12 - 14, 16

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4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan,

5 "Go and tell my servant David, `Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in?

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;

16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.'" 

 

PSALM: Psalms 89: 2 - 5, 27, 29

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2 For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.

3 Thou hast said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant:

4 `I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.'" [Selah]

5 Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O LORD, thy faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

27 And I will make him the first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.

29 I will establish his line for ever and his throne as the days of the heavens. 

 

SECOND READING: Romans 4: 13, 16 - 18, 22

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13 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants -- not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all,

17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" -- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."

22 That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness." 

GOSPEL: Matthew 1: 16, 18 - 21, 24 or Luke 2: 41 - 51

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16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;

19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;

21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 

Or

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom;

43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances;

45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.

46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions;

47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously."

49 And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

50 And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.

51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

A Quick Note To Our Readers/Subscribers

Some people have asked why I post the daily mass readings a day in advance.

It is true, that for those of us in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the rest of the western hemisphere, they are one day ahead.

However, for our friends on the other side of the international dateline, such as Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and many others, they are posted on the exact day that they should be posted.

So, since this blog gets a good number of readers from that side of the world, they will continue to be posted one day ahead as long as God permits me to do so.

May the Good Lord bless you, and Our Lady keep you in her care,

Steve Smith

Mass Readings for Thursday, March 18, 2010

 Lenten Weekday (Total Consecration - Day 27)

FIRST READING: Exodus 32: 7 - 14

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7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves;

8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'"

9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;

10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation."

11 But Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians say, `With evil intent did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thine own self, and didst say to them, `I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.'"

14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people. 
 

PSALM: Psalms 106: 19 - 23

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19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image.

20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.

21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.

23 Therefore he said he would destroy them -- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them. 
 

GOSPEL: John 5: 31 - 47

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31 If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true;

32 there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true.

33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

34 Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved.

35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me.

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen;

38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me;

40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

41 I do not receive glory from men.

42 But I know that you have not the love of God within you.

43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope.

46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.

47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"