Daily Mass Readings for Thursday, December 7, 2017

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and Father of the Church

FIRST READING: Isaiah 26:1-6

---

1 In that day shall this canticle be sung the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein.

2 Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in.

3 The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee.

4 You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever.

5 For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.

PSALM: Psalms 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27

---

1 Give praise to Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

8 It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man.

9 It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes.

19 Open ye to me the gates of justice: I will go into them, and give praise to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.

21 I will give glory to thee because thou hast heard me: and art become my salvation.

25 O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success.

26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

27 The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us. Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the alter.

GOSPEL: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

---

21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

24 Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock,

25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand,

27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

Daily Mass Readings for Wednesday, December 6, 2017

"The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes"
-- by James Tissot

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Optional Memorial of Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bishop

FIRST READING: Isaiah 25:6-10

---

6 And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees.

7 And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations.

8 He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

9 And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyfull in his salvation.

10 For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain: and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces with the wain.

PSALM: Psalms 23:1-6

---

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters,

3 he restores my soul. He guides me through the right paths for his name's sake.

4 Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are beside me: your rod and your staff comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

6 Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

GOSPEL: Matthew 15:29-37

---

29 And when Jesus had passed away from thence, he came nigh the sea of Galilee. And going up into a mountain, he sat there.

30 And there came to him great multitudes, having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others: and they cast them down at his feet, and he healed them:

31 So that the multitudes marvelled seeing the dumb speak, the lame walk, and the blind see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 And Jesus called together his disciples, and said: I have compassion on the multitudes, because they continue with me now three days, and have not what to eat, and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

33 And the disciples say unto him: Whence then should we have so many loaves in the desert, as to fill so great a multitude?

34 And Jesus said to them: How many loaves have you? But they said: Seven, and a few little fishes.

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground.

36 And taking the seven loaves and the fishes, and giving thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the people.

37 And they did all eat, and had their fill. And they took up seven baskets full, of what remained of the fragments.