Daily Readings for Saturday, August 31, 2013

Reading 1, First Thessalonians 4:9-12

⁹ As for brotherly love, there is no need to write to you about that, since you have yourselves learnt from God to love one another,

¹⁰ and in fact this is how you treat all the brothers throughout the whole of Macedonia. However, we do urge you, brothers, to go on making even greater progress

¹¹ and to make a point of living quietly, attending to your own business and earning your living, just as we told you to,

¹² so that you may earn the respect of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 7-8, 9

¹ [Psalm] Sing a new song to Yahweh, for he has performed wonders, his saving power is in his right hand and his holy arm.

⁷ Let the sea thunder, and all that it holds, the world and all who live in it.

⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands, and the mountains shout for joy together,

⁹ at Yahweh's approach, for he is coming to judge the earth; he will judge the world with saving justice and the nations with fairness.

Gospel, Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴ 'It is like a man about to go abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted hisproperty to them.

¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey.

¹⁶ The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more.

¹⁷ The man who had received two made two more in the same way.

¹⁸ But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

¹⁹ Now a long time afterwards, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them.

²⁰ The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made."

²¹ His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness."

²² Next the man with the two talents came forward. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made."

²³ His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness."

²⁴ Last came forward the man who had the single talent. "Sir," said he, "I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered;

²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back."

²⁶ But his master answered him, "You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered?

²⁷ Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest.

²⁸ So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents.

²⁹ For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.

³⁰ As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where therewill be weeping and grinding of teeth."

Daily Readings for Friday, August 30, 2013

Reading 1, First Thessalonians 4:1-8

¹ Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus; we instructed you how to live in the way that pleases God, and you are so living; but make more progress still.

² You are well aware of the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³ God wills you all to be holy. He wants you to keep away from sexual immorality,

⁴ and each one of you to know how to control his body in a way that is holy and honourable,

⁵ not giving way to selfish lust like the nations who do not acknowledge God.

⁶ He wants nobody at all ever to sin by taking advantage of a brother in these matters; theLord always pays back sins of that sort, as we told you before emphatically.

⁷ God called us to be holy, not to be immoral;

⁸ in other words, anyone who rejects this is rejecting not human authority, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 97:1, 2, 5-6, 10, 11-12

¹ Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad!

² Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and judgement the foundations of his throne.

Gospel, Matthew 25:1-13

¹ 'Then the kingdom of Heaven will be like this: Ten wedding attendants took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

² Five of them were foolish and five were sensible:

³ the foolish ones, though they took their lamps, took no oil with them,

⁴ whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.

⁵ The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, "Look! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him."

⁷ Then all those wedding attendants woke up and trimmed their lamps,

⁸ and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out."

⁹ But they replied, "There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves."

¹⁰ They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.

¹¹ The other attendants arrived later. "Lord, Lord," they said, "open the door for us."

¹² But he replied, "In truth I tell you, I do not know you."

¹³ So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.

Daily Readings for Thursday, August 29, 2013

Reading 1, Jeremiah 1:17-19

¹⁷ 'As for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you. Have no fear of them and in their presence I will make you fearless.

¹⁸ For look, today I have made you into a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of bronze to stand against the whole country: the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests and the people of the country.

¹⁹ They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you, Yahwehdeclares, to rescue you.'

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17

¹ In you, Yahweh, I take refuge, I shall never be put to shame.

² In your saving justice rescue me, deliver me, listen to me and save me.

³ Be a sheltering rock for me, always accessible; you have determined to save me, for you are my rock, my fortress.

⁴ My God, rescue me from the clutches of the wicked, from the grasp of the rogue and the ruthless.

⁵ For you are my hope, Lord, my trust, Yahweh, since boyhood.

⁶ On you I have relied since my birth, since my mother's womb you have been my portion, the constant theme of my praise.

¹⁵ My lips shall proclaim your saving justice, your saving power all day long.

¹⁷ God, you have taught me from boyhood, and I am still proclaiming your marvels.

Gospel, Mark 6:17-29

¹⁷ Now it was this same Herod who had sent to have John arrested, and had had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife whom he had married.

¹⁸ For John had told Herod, 'It is against the law for you to have your brother's wife.'

¹⁹ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him, but she was not able to do so,

²⁰ because Herod was in awe of John, knowing him to be a good and upright man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹ An opportunity came on Herod's birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee.

²² When the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and his guests; so the king said to the girl, 'Ask me anything you like and I will give it you.'

²³ And he swore her an oath, 'I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.'

²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?' She replied, 'The head ofJohn the Baptist.'

²⁵ The girl at once rushed back to the king and made her request, 'I want you to give meJohn the Baptist's head, immediately, on a dish.'

²⁶ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her.

²⁷ At once the king sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John's head.

²⁸ The man went off and beheaded him in the prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁹ When John's disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Daily Readings for Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Reading 1, First Thessalonians 2:9-13

⁹ You remember, brothers, with what unsparing energy we used to work, slaving night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were proclaiming the gospel of Godto you.

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, that our treatment of you, since you believed, has been impeccably fair and upright.

¹¹ As you know, we treated every one of you as a father treats his children,

¹² urging you, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and his glory.

¹³ Another reason why we continually thank God for you is that as soon as you heard the word that we brought you as God's message, you welcomed it for what it really is, not the word of any human being, but God's word, a power that is working among you believers.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12

⁷ Where shall I go to escape your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I scale the heavens you are there, if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are.

⁹ If I speed away on the wings of the dawn, if I dwell beyond the ocean,

¹⁰ even there your hand will be guiding me, your right hand holding me fast.

¹¹ I will say, 'Let the darkness cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,'

¹² even darkness to you is not dark, and night is as clear as the day.

Gospel, Matthew 23:27-32

²⁷ 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of corruption.

²⁸ In just the same way, from the outside you look upright, but inside you are full ofhypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the sepulchres of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the upright,

³⁰ saying, "We would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets, had we lived in our ancestors' day."

³¹ So! Your own evidence tells against you! You are the children of those who murdered the prophets!

³² Very well then, finish off the work that your ancestors began.

Daily Readings for Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Reading 1, First Thessalonians 2:1-8

¹ You know yourselves, my brothers, that our visit to you has not been pointless.

² Although, as you know, we had received rough treatment and insults at Philippi, God gave us the courage to speak his gospel to you fearlessly, in spite of great opposition.

³ Our encouragement to you does not come from any delusion or impure motives or trickery.

⁴ No, God has approved us to be entrusted with the gospel, and this is how we preach, seeking to please not human beings but God who tests our hearts.

⁵ Indeed, we have never acted with the thought of flattering anyone, as you know, nor as an excuse for greed, God is our witness;

⁶ nor have we ever looked for honour from human beings, either from you or anybody else,

⁷ when we could have imposed ourselves on you with full weight, as apostles of Christ. Instead, we lived unassumingly among you. Like a mother feeding and looking after her children,

⁸ we felt so devoted to you, that we would have been happy to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, so dear had you become.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 139:1-3, 4-5

¹ [For the choirmaster Of David Psalm] Yahweh, you examine me and know me,

² you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar.

³ You watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct.

⁴ A word is not yet on my tongue before you, Yahweh, know all about it.

⁵ You fence me in, behind and in front, you have laid your hand upon me.

Gospel, Matthew 23:23-26

²³ 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay your tithe of mint and dill and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law-justice, mercy, goodfaith! These you should have practised, those not neglected.

²⁴ You blind guides, straining out gnats and swallowing camels!

²⁵ 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance.

²⁶ Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that it and the outside are both clean.

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Daily Readings for Monday, August 26, 2013

Reading 1, First Thessalonians 1:2-5, 8-10

² We always thank God for you all, mentioning you in our prayers continually.

³ We remember before our God and Father how active is the faith, how unsparing the love, how persevering the hope which you have from our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ We know, brothers loved by God, that you have been chosen,

⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in words, but also in power and in the Holy Spiritand with great effect. And you observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your sake.

⁸ since it was from you that the word of the Lord rang out -- and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for your faith in God has spread everywhere. We do not need to tell other people about it:

⁹ other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with the worship of false gods when you were converted to God and became servants of the living and true God;

¹⁰ and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven. It is he who saves us from the Retribution which is coming.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9

¹ Alleluia! Sing a new song to Yahweh: his praise in the assembly of the faithful!

² Israel shall rejoice in its Maker, the children of Zion delight in their king;

³ they shall dance in praise of his name, play to him on tambourines and harp!

⁴ For Yahweh loves his people, he will crown the humble with salvation.

⁵ The faithful exult in glory, shout for joy as they worship him,

⁶ praising God to the heights with their voices, a two-edged sword in their hands,

⁹ to execute on them the judgement passed -- to the honour of all his faithful.

Gospel, Matthew 23:13-22

¹³ 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut up the kingdom of Heavenin people's faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go who want to.

¹⁴

¹⁵ 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and anyone who becomes one you make twice as fit for hell as you are.

¹⁶ 'Alas for you, blind guides! You say, "If anyone swears by the Temple, it has no force; but anyone who swears by the gold of the Temple is bound."

¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is of greater value, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?

¹⁸ Again, "If anyone swears by the altar it has no force; but anyone who swears by the offering on the altar, is bound."

¹⁹ You blind men! For which is of greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred?

²⁰ Therefore, someone who swears by the altar is swearing by that and by everything on it.

²¹ And someone who swears by the Temple is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it.

²² And someone who swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by the One who is seated there.

Daily Readings for Sunday, August 25, 2013

Reading 1, Isaiah 66:18-21

¹⁸ I am coming to gather every nation and every language. They will come to witness my glory.

¹⁹ I shall give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coasts and islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations,

²⁰ and from all the nations they will bring all your brothers as an offering to Yahweh, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,Yahweh says, like Israelites bringing offerings in clean vessels to Yahweh's house.

²¹ And some of them I shall make into priests and Levites, Yahweh says.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 117:1, 2

¹ Alleluia! Praise Yahweh, all nations, extol him, all peoples,

² for his faithful love is strong and his constancy never-ending.

Gospel, Luke 13:22-30

²² Through towns and villages he went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem.

²³ Someone said to him, 'Sir, will there be only a few saved?' He said to them,

²⁴ 'Try your hardest to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

²⁵ 'Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself standing outside knocking on the door, saying, "Lord, open to us," but he will answer, "I do not know where you come from."

²⁶ Then you will start saying, "We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets,"

²⁷ but he will reply, "I do not know where you come from; away from me, all evil doers!"

²⁸ 'Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac andJacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrown out.

²⁹ And people from east and west, from north and south, will come and sit down at the feast in the kingdom of God.

³⁰ 'Look, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.'

Reading 2, Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

⁵ Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, do not scorn correction from the Lord, do not resent his training,

⁶ for the Lord trains those he loves, and chastises every son he accepts.

⁷ Perseverance is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not train him?

¹¹ Of course, any discipline is at the time a matter for grief, not joy; but later, in those who have undergone it, it bears fruit in peace and uprightness.

¹² So steady all weary hands and trembling knees

¹³ and make your crooked paths straight; then the injured limb will not be maimed, it willget better instead.

Daily Readings for Saturday, August 24, 2013

Reading 1, Revelation 21:9-14

⁹ One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came to speak to me and said, 'Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.'

¹⁰ In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God.

¹¹ It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.

¹² Its wall was of a great height and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel;

¹³ on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

¹⁴ The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

¹⁰ All your creatures shall thank you, Yahweh, and your faithful shall bless you.

¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of your kingship and tell of your might,

¹² making known your mighty deeds to the children of Adam, the glory and majesty of your kingship.

¹³ Your kingship is a kingship for ever, your reign lasts from age to age. Yahweh is trustworthy in all his words, and upright in all his deeds.

¹⁷ Upright in all that he does, Yahweh acts only in faithful love.

¹⁸ He is close to all who call upon him, all who call on him from the heart.

Gospel, John 1:45-51

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the Lawand the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.'

⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, 'From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?' Philip replied, 'Come and see.'

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, 'There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.'

⁴⁸ Nathanael asked, 'How do you know me?' Jesus replied, 'Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.'

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.'

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, 'You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going to see greater things than that.'

⁵¹ And then he added, 'In all truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels ofGod ascending and descending over the Son of man.'

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