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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Catholic Mass Readings For Friday, June 27, 2014

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 7: 6 - 11

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6 You are a people consecrated to Yahweh, your God. Yahweh has chosen you from among all the peoples on the face of the earth, that you may be his own people.

7 Yahweh has bound himself to you and has chosen you, not because you are the most numerous among all the peoples (on the contrary, you are the least).

8 Rather, he has chosen you because of his love for you and to fulfill the oath he made to your fathers. Therefore, with a firm hand Yahweh brought you out from slavery in Egypt, from the power of Pharaoh.

9 So know that Yahweh, your God, is the true and faithful God. He keeps his covenant, and his love reaches to the thousandth generation for those who love him and fulfill his commandments,

10 but he punishes in their own persons those who hate him and he repays them without delay.

11 So keep the commandments, the norms and the laws that today I command you to practice.

PSALM: Psalms 103: 1 - 4, 6 - 7, 8, 10

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1 Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all his kindness;

3 he forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness;

4 he redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion;

6 The Lord restores justice and secures the rights of the oppressed.

7 He has made known his ways to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger;

10 He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does he punish us as we deserve.

SECOND READING: 1 John 4: 7 - 16

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7 My dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8 Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love.

9 How did the love of God appear among us? God sent his only Son into this world that we might have life through him.

10 This is love: not that we loved God but that he first loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love spreads freely among us.

13 How may we know that we live in God and he in us? Because God has given us his Spirit.

14 We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent his Son to save the world.

15 Those who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in them and they in God.

16 We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.

GOSPEL: Matthew 11: 25 - 30

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25 On that occasion Jesus said, "Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people.

26 Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.

27 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest.

30 For my yoke is good and my burden is light."

Catholic Mass Readings For Thursday, June 26, 2014

Optional Memorial Saint Josemaria Escriva, Priest

FIRST READING: 2 Kings 24: 8 - 17

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8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

9 Jehoiachin treated Yahweh badly, as his father had done.

10 At that time, the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to attack Jerusalem, surrounding the city.

11 Nebuchadnezzar came while the city was being besieged by his men.

12 Jehoiachin, king of Judah, surrendered together with his mother, his servants, his leaders and the palace officials. It was the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

13 Nebuchadnezzar captured them and he took away the treasures of the House of Yahweh and of the king's house. He also destroyed all the objects of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made for the sanctuary of Yahweh. So the word Yahweh had spoken, was fulfilled.

14 Nebuchadnezzar carried off into exile all the leaders and prominent men, the blacksmiths and locksmiths, all the men of valor fit for war. A total of ten thousand were exiled to Babylon. Only the poorest sector of the population was left.

15 Nebuchaddnezzar also carried away Jehoiachin, with his mother, his wives, the ministers of the palace, and the prominent men of the land.

16 So all the prominent people, numbering seven thousand, the blacksmiths, numbering a thousand, and all the men fit for war were deported to Babylon by the king of Babylon.

17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king of Jerusalem, in place of Jehoiachin. And he changed his name to Zedekiah.

PSALM: Psalms 79: 1 - 5, 8 - 9

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1 O God, the pagans have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

2 They have given your servants' corpses to the birds, and the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.

3 They have poured out the blood of your faithful like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.

4 Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our neighbors.

5 How long will this last, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your wrath always burn to avenge your rights?

8 Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

9 Help us, God, our savior, for the glory of your name; forgive us for the sake of your name.

GOSPEL: Matthew 7: 21 - 29

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21 Not everyone who says to me: Lord! Lord! will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father.

22 Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in your name?"

23 Then I will tell them openly: I have never known you; away from me, you evil people!

24 "So, then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly is like a wise man, who built his house on rock.

25 The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house, but it did not collapse because it was built on rock.

26 But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand.

27 The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible fall that was!"

28 When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the way he taught,

29 because he taught with authority unlike their teachers of the Law.