Mass Readings for Sunday, June 26, 2011

 Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 8: 2 - 3, 14 - 16

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2 And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.

3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,

15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,

16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.

PSALM: Psalms 147: 12 - 15, 19 - 20

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12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you.

14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.

15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.

19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.

20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 10: 16 - 17

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16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

GOSPEL: John 6: 51 - 58

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51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;

54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.

58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

Mass Readings for Saturday, June 25, 2011

FIRST READING: Genesis 18: 1 - 15

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1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth,

3 and said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.

4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,

5 while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on -- since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.

8 Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9 They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent."

10 The LORD said, "I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"

13 The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, `Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'

14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son."

15 But Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

PSALM: Luke 1: 46 - 50, 53 - 55

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46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.

53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."

GOSPEL: Matthew 8: 5 - 17

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5 As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him

6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress."

7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him."

8 But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it."

10 When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.

11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."

13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever;

15 he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and served him.

16 That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick.

17 This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."