Mass Readings for Friday, March 26, 2010

Lenten Weekday

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 20: 10 - 13

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10 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! "Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" say all my familiar friends, watching for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived, then we can overcome him, and take our revenge on him."

11 But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 O LORD of hosts, who triest the righteous, who seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause.

13 Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers. 

 

PSALM: Psalms 18: 2 - 7

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2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me;

5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 

 

GOSPEL: John 10: 31 - 42

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31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"

33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."

34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods'?

35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken),

36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'?

37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;

38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

39 Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained.

41 And many came to him; and they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true."

42 And many believed in him there.

Mass Readings for Thursday, March 25, 2010

 The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity) (Act of Total Consecration)

FIRST READING: Isaiah 7: 10 - 14

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10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,

11 "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven."

12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test."

13 And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

PSALM: Psalms 40: 7 - 11

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7 Then I said, "Lo, I come; in the roll of the book it is written of me;

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my heart."

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; lo, I have not restrained my lips, as thou knowest, O LORD.

10 I have not hid thy saving help within my heart, I have spoken of thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness from the great congregation.

11 Do not thou, O LORD, withhold thy mercy from me, let thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness ever preserve me! 
 

SECOND READING: Hebrews 10: 4 - 10

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4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me;

6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.

7 Then I said, `Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God, 'as it is written of me in the roll of the book."

8 When he said above, "Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

9 then he added, "Lo, I have come to do thy will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

GOSPEL: Luke 1: 26 - 38

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26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.

30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."

34 And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"

35 And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing will be impossible."

38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Mass Readings for Wednesday March 24, 2010

Lenten Weekday (Total Consecration - Day 33)

FIRST READING: Daniel 3: 14 - 20, 91 - 92, 95

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14 King Nebuchadnezzar questioned them: "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up?

15 Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?"

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, "There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter.

17 If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us!

18 But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up."

19 Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual

20 and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into thewhite-hot furnace.

91 King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" "Assuredly, O king," they answered.

92 "But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."

95 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

PSALM: Daniel 3: 52 - 56

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52 "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.

53 Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.

54 Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

55 Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

56 Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever. 
 

GOSPEL: John 8: 31 - 42

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31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples,

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

33 They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, `You will be made free'?"

34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin.

35 The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever.

36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.

38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."

39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did,

40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did.

41 You do what your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

Mass Readings for Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Lenten Weekday (Total Consecration - Day 32)

FIRST READING: Numbers 21: 4 - 9

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4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way.

5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."

6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

7 And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."

9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. 
 

PSALM: Psalms 102: 2 - 3, 16 - 21

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2 Do not hide thy face from me in the day of my distress! Incline thy ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!

3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

16 For the LORD will build up Zion, he will appear in his glory;

17 he will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their supplication.

18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:

19 that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

21 that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, 
 

GOSPEL: John 8: 21 - 30

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21 Again he said to them, "I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."

22 Then said the Jews, "Will he kill himself, since he says, `Where I am going, you cannot come'?"

23 He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.

24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he."

25 They said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Even what I have told you from the beginning.

26 I have much to say about you and much to judge; but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him."

27 They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father.

28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me.

29 And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him."

30 As he spoke thus, many believed in him.