Please Note

Whenever you use the links on my blog's to make purchases, such as from Mystic Monk Coffee, CCleaner, and others, I earn a small commission. This commission does not have any effect on your costs.


Friday, August 25, 2017

Daily Catholic Mass Readings for Saturday, August 26, 2017

"The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat"
-- by Alexandre Bida

FIRST READING: Ruth 2: 1 - 3, 8 - 11; 4: 13 - 17

1 Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man, and very rich, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to her mother in law: If thou wilt, I will go into the field, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder that will be favourable to me. And she answered her: Go, my daughter.
3 She went therefore and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers. And it happened that the owner of that field was Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
8 And Boaz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in any other field, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my maids,
9 And follow where they reap. For I have charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink.
10 She fell on her face and worshipping upon the ground, said to him: Whence cometh this to me, that I should find grace before thy eyes, and that thou shouldst vouchsafe to take notice of me a woman of another country?
11 And he answered her: All hath been told me, that thou hast done to thy mother in law after the death of thy husband: and how thou hast left thy parents, and the land wherein thou wast born, and art come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
13 Boaz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive and to bear a son.
14 And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy family to want a successor, that his name should be preserved in Israel.
15 And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter in law: who loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons.
16 And Noemi taking the child laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a nurse unto it.
17 And the women her neighbours, congratulating with her and saying: There is a son born to Noemi: called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David.

PSALM: Psalms 128: 1 - 5

1 Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
5 May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

GOSPEL: Matthew 23: 1 - 12

1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
2 Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses.
3 All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them.
5 And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes.
6 And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues,
7 And salutations in the market place, and to be called by men, Rabbi.
8 But be not you called Rabbi. For one is your master; and all you are brethren.
9 And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ.
11 He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Daily Catholic Mass Readings for Friday, August 25, 2017

"The Pharisees Question Jesus"
-- by James Tissot


FIRST READING: Ruth 1: 1, 3 - 6, 14 - 16, 22

1 In the days of one of the judges, when the judges ruled, there came a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Juda, went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
3 And Elimelech the husband of Noemi died: and she remained with her sons.
4 And they took wives of the women of Moab, of which one was called Orpha, and the other Ruth. And they dwelt there ten years.
5 And they both died, to wit, Mahalon and Chelion: and the woman was left alone, having lost both her sons and her husband.
6 And she arose to go from the land of Moab to her own country with both her daughters in law: for she had heard that the Lord had looked upon his people, and had given them food.
14 And they lifted up their voice, and began to weep again: Orpha kissed her mother in law and returned: Ruth stuck close to her mother in law.
15 And Noemi said to her: Behold thy kinswoman is returned to her people, and to her gods, go thou with her.
16 She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.
22 So Noemi came with Ruth the Moabitess her daughter in law, from the land of her sojournment: and returned into Bethlehem, in the beginning of the barley harvest.

PSALM: Psalms 146: 5 - 10

5 Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.
7 Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:
8 The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.
9 The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.
10 The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.

GOSPEL: Matthew 22: 34 - 40

34 But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together:
35 And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him:
36 Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.
39 And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.


Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Daily Catholic Mass Readings for Thursday, August 24, 2017

"Nathaniel Under the Fig Tree"
-- by James Tissot

FIRST READING: Revelation 21: 9 - 14

9 And there came one of the seven angels, who had the vials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me, saying: Come, and I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
10 And he took me up in spirit to a great and high mountain: and he shewed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God, and the light thereof was like to a precious stone, as to the jasper stone, even as crystal.
12 And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
13 On the east, three gates: and on the north, three gates: and on the south, three gates: and on the west, three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

PSALM: Psalms 145: 10 - 13, 17 - 18

10 Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee.
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell of thy power:
12 To make thy might known to the sons of men: and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom.
13 Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works.
17 The Lord is just in all his ways: and holy in all his works.
18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call upon him in truth.

GOSPEL: John 1: 45 - 51

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him: We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth.
46 And Nathanael said to him: Can any thing of good come from Nazareth? Philip saith to him: Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him: and he saith of him: Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.
48 Nathanael saith to him: Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered, and said to him: Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
49 Nathanael answered him, and said: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered, and said to him: Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, thou believest: greater things than these shalt thou see.
51 And he saith to him: Amen, amen I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.



Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Daily Catholic Mass Readings for Wednesday, August 23, 2017




FIRST READING: Judges 9: 6 - 15

6 And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak that stood in Sichem.
7 This being told to Joatham, he went and stood on the top of mount Garizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men of Sichem, so may God hear you.
8 The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the olive tree: Reign thou over us.
9 And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?
10 And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us.
11 And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?
12 And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.
13 And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and men, and be promoted among the other trees?
14 And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over us.
15 And it answered them: If indeed you mean to make me king, come ye and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let fire come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.

PSALM: Psalms 21: 2 - 7

2 In thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
3 Thou hast given him his heart's desire: and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips.
4 For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
5 He asked life of thee: and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever.
6 His glory is great in thy salvation: glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him.
7 For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.

GOSPEL: Matthew 20: 1-16

1 The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2 And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle.
4 And he said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.
5 And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner.
6 But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle?
7 They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard.
8 And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the labourers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first.
9 When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny.
11 And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house,
12 Saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats.
13 But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny?
14 Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee.
15 Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good?
16 So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

Or

FIRST READING: 2 Corinthians 10: 17-- 11:2
1 Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
11 Kings of the earth and all people: princes and all judges of the earth:
12 Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise the name of the Lord:
13 For his name alone is exalted.
14 The praise of him is above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints: to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him. Alleluia.

PSALM: Psalms 148: 1 -- 2, 11 - 14

1 Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
11 Kings of the earth and all people: princes and all judges of the earth:
12 Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise the name of the Lord:
13 For his name alone is exalted.
14 The praise of him is above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints: to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him. Alleluia.

GOSPEL: Matthew 13: 44 - 46

44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
45 Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls.
46 Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.