Sunday Catholic Mass Readings For June 29, 2014

"Saint Peter" (left) and "Saint Paul" (right) -- by James Tissot

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

FIRST READING: Acts 12: 1 - 11

---

1 About that time King Herod decided to persecute some members of the Church.

2 He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword,

3 and when he saw how it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

This happened during the festival of the Unleavened Bread.

4 Herod had him seized and thrown into prison with four squads, each of four soldiers, to guard him. He wanted to bring him to trial before the people after the Passover feast,

5 but while Peter was kept in prison, the whole Church prayed earnestly for him.

6 On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound by a double chain, while guards kept watch at the gate of the prison.

7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there and a light shone in the prison cell. The angel tapped Peter on the side and woke him saying, "Get up quickly!" At once the chains fell from Peter's wrists. The angel said, "Put on your belt and your sandals." Peter did so,

8 and the angel added, "Now, put on your cloak and follow me."

9 Peter followed him out; yet he did not realize that what was happening with the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

10 They passed the first guard and then the second and they came to the iron door leading out to the city, which opened of itself for them. They went out and made their way down a narrow alley, when suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter recovered his senses and said, "Now I know that the Lord has sent his angel and has rescued me from Herod's clutches and from all that the Jews had in store for me."

PSALM: Psalms 34: 2 - 9

---

2 I will bless the Lord all my days; his praise will be ever on my lips.

3 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

4 Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify his name!

5 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; from all my fears he delivered me.

6 They who look to him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame.

7 When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.

8 The Lord's angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear him.

9 Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in him!

SECOND READING: 2 Timothy 4: 6 - 8, 17 - 18

---

6 As for me the time of sacrifice has arrived, and the moment of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness with which the Lord, the just judge, will reward me on that day; and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious coming.

17 But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength to proclaim the Word fully, and let all the pagans hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

18 The Lord will save me from all evil, bringing me to his heavenly kingdom. Glory to him for ever and ever. Amen!

GOSPEL: Matthew 16: 13 - 19

---

13 After that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, "What do people say of the Son of Man? Who do they say I am?"

14 They said, "For some of them you are John the Baptist, for others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

15 Jesus asked them, "But you, who do you say I am?"

16 Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

17 Jesus replied, "It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

18 And now I say to you: You are Peter (or Rock) and on this rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it.

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven."

Catholic Mass Readings For Saturday, June 28, 2014

Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

FIRST READING: Lamentations 2: 2, 10 - 14, 18 - 19

---

2 Without pity Yahweh has shattered in Jacob every dwelling. He has torn down in his anger the ramparts of Judah's daughter. He has thrown her rulers and her king to the ground, dishonored.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit in silence upon the ground, their heads sprinkled with dust, their bodies wrapped in sackcloth, while Jerusalem's young women bow their heads to the ground.

11 With weeping my eyes are spent; my soul is in torment because of the downfall of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the open spaces of the town.

12 To their mothers they say, "Where is the bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets and public squares, as their lives ebb away in their mothers' arms.

13 To what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? Who can save or comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? Deep as the sea is your affliction, and who can possibly heal you?

14 Your prophets' visions were worthless and false. Had they warned of your sins, your fate might have been averted. But what they gave you instead were false, misleading signs.

18 Cry out to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion! Oh, let your tears flow day and night, like a river. Give yourself no relief; grant your eyes no respite.

19 Get up, cry out in the night, as the evening watches start; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.

Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint with hunger at the corner of every street.

PSALM: Psalms 74: 1 - 7, 20 - 21

---

1 O God, have you rejected us forever? Why vent your anger on the sheep of your own fold?

2 Remember the people you have formed of old, the tribe you have redeemed as your inheritance. Remember Mount Zion where you once lived.

3 Climb and visit these hopeless ruins, the enemy has ravaged everything in the sanctuary.

4 Your foes have roared triumphantly in the holy place, and set up their banner of victory.

5 Like lumbermen felling trees,

6 they smashed the carved paneling with hatchets, hammers and axes.

7 They defiled your sanctuary and set aflame the dwelling place of your name.

20 See how they keep your covenant in the dark caves of the land.

21 Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; may the poor and needy praise your name.

GOSPEL: Luke 2: 41 - 51

---

41 Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary.

42 And when Jesus was twelve years old, he went up with them according to the custom for this feast.

43 After the festival was over, they returned, but the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem and his parents did not know it.

44 They thought he was in the company and after walking the whole day they looked for him among their relatives and friends.

45 As they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for him,

46 and on the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

47 And all the people were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

48 His parents were very surprised when they saw him and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for you."

49 Then he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Do you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

50 But they did not understand this answer.

51 Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and he continued to be subject to them. As for his mother, she kept all these things in her heart.