Sunday Catholic Mass Readings For August 18, 2013

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 38: 4 - 6, 8 - 10

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4 And the princes said to the king: We beseech thee that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil.

5 And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing.

6 Then they took Jeremias and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire.

8 And Abdemelech went out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying:

9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremias the prophet, casting him into the dungeon to die there with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.

10 Then the king commanded Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, and draw up Jeremias the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

PSALM: Psalms 40: 2 - 4, 18

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2 And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps.

3 And he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God. Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord.

4 Blessed is the man whose trust is in the name of the Lord; and who hath not had regard to vanities, and lying follies.

18 But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me. Thou art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack.

SECOND READING: Hebrews 12: 1 - 4

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1 And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us:

2 Looking on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who having joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself; that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds.

4 For you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

GOSPEL: Luke 12: 49 - 53

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49 I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?

50 And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?

51 Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.

52 For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.

53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Catholic Mass Readings For Saturday, August 17, 2013

"Suffer the Little Children to Come unto Me " -- by James Tissot

FIRST READING: Joshua 24: 14 - 29

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14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect and most sincere heart: and put away the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

15 But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

16 And the people answered, and said: God forbid we should leave the Lord, and serve strange gods.

17 The Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: and did very great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way by which we journeyed, and among all the people through whom we passed.

18 And he hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite the inhabitant of the land into which we are come. Therefore we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.

19 And Joshua said to the people: You will not be able to serve the Lord: for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins.

20 If you leave the Lord, and serve strange gods, he will turn, and will afflict you, and will destroy you after all the good he hath done you.

21 And the people said to Joshua: No, it shall not be so as thou sayest, but we will serve the Lord.

22 And Joshua said to the people: You are witnesses, that you yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they answered: We are witnesses.

23 Now therefore, said he, put away strange gods from among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel.

24 And the people said to Joshua: We will serve the Lord our God, and we will be obedient to his commandments.

25 Joshua therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.

26 And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of the Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under the oak that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.

27 And he said to all the people: Behold this stone shall be a testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken to you: lest perhaps hereafter you will deny it, and lie to the Lord your God.

28 And he sent the people away every one to their own possession.

29 And after these things Joshua the son of Null the servant of the Lord died, being a hundred and ten years old

PSALM: Psalms 16: 1 - 2, 5, 7 - 8, 11

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1 Preserve me, O Lord, for I have put trust in thee.

2 I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods.

5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me.

7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding: moreover my reins also have corrected me even till night.

8 I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.

11 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end.

GOSPEL: Matthew 19: 13 - 15

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13 Then were little children presented to him, that he should impose hands upon them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them.

14 But Jesus said to them: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such.

15 And when he had imposed hands upon them, he departed from thence.

Catholic Mass Readings For Friday, August 16, 2013

FIRST READING: Joshua 24: 1 - 13

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1 And Josue gathered together all the tribes of Israel in Sichem, and called for the ancients, and the princes, and the judges, and the masters: and they stood in the sight of the Lord:

2 And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and they served strange gods.

3 And I took your father Abraham from the borders of Mesopotamia: and brought him into the land of Chanaan: and I multiplied his seed,

4 And gave him Isaac: and to him again I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession: but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with many signs and wonders.

6 And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea: and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen, as far as the Red Sea.

7 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. Your eyes saw all that I did in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time:

8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, who dwelt beyond the Jordan. And when they fought against you, I delivered them into your hands, and you possessed their land, and slew them.

9 And Balac son of Sephor king of Moab arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and called for Balaam son of Beor, to curse you:

10 And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed you by him, and I delivered you out of his hand.

11 And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho. And the men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite: and I delivered them into your hands.

12 And I sent before you hornets: and I drove them out from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow.

13 And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which you planted not.

PSALM: Psalms 136: 1 - 3, 16 - 18, 21 - 22, 24

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1 Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Praise ye the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

3 Praise ye the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

16 Who led his people through the desert: for his mercy endureth for ever.

17 Who smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.

18 And slew strong kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.

21 And he gave their land for an inheritance: for his mercy endureth for ever.

22 For an inheritance to his servant Israel: for his mercy endureth for ever.

24 And he redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

GOSPEL: Matthew 19: 3 - 12

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3 And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

4 Who answering, said to them: Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, Made them male and female? And he said:

5 For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh.

6 Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

7 They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away?

8 He saith to them: Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

9 And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.

10 His disciples say unto him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry.

11 Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given.

12 For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.