15 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).

Readings at Mass

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First reading

Isaiah 50:5-9

I offered my back to those who struck me

The Lord has opened my ear.

For my part, I made no resistance,

neither did I turn away.

I offered my back to those who struck me,

my cheeks to those who tore at my beard;

I did not cover my face

against insult and spittle.

The Lord comes to my help,

so that I am untouched by the insults.

So, too, I set my face like flint;

I know I shall not be shamed.

My vindicator is here at hand. Does anyone start proceedings against me?

Then let us go to court together.

Who thinks he has a case against me?

Let him approach me.

The Lord is coming to my help,

who will dare to condemn me?

________

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 114(116):1-6,8-9

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

I love the Lord for he has heard

    the cry of my appeal;

for he turned his ear to me

    in the day when I called him.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

They surrounded me, the snares of death,

    with the anguish of the tomb;

they caught me, sorrow and distress.

    I called on the Lord’s name.

O Lord, my God, deliver me!

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

How gracious is the Lord, and just;

    our God has compassion.

The Lord protects the simple hearts;

    I was helpless so he saved me.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

He has kept my soul from death,

    my eyes from tears

    and my feet from stumbling.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord

    in the land of the living.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

________

Second reading

James 2:14-18

If good works do not go with it, faith is quite dead

Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.

    This is the way to talk to people of that kind: ‘You say you have faith and I have good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds – now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show.’

________

Gospel Acclamation

Jn14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;

No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

Or:

Ga6:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

The only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord,

through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

Mark 8:27-35

The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously

Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.

    And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’

    He called the people and his disciples to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’

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14 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross - Feast 

Liturgical Colour: Red. Year: B(II)

Readings at Mass

________

When a Feast of the Lord is celebrated on a weekday there is only one reading before the Gospel, which may be chosen from either the first or second reading.

EITHER: --------

First reading

Numbers 21:4-9

If anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked up at the bronze serpent and lived

On the way through the wilderness the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.’

    At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people, and the Lord answered him, ‘Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.

OR: --------

First reading

Philippians 2:6-11

Christ humbled himself but God raised him high

His state was divine,

yet Christ Jesus did not cling

to his equality with God

but emptied himself

to assume the condition of a slave

and became as men are;

and being as all men are,

he was humbler yet,

even to accepting death,

death on a cross.

But God raised him high

and gave him the name

which is above all other names

so that all beings

in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,

should bend the knee at the name of Jesus

and that every tongue should acclaim

Jesus Christ as Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

________

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 77(78):1-2,34-38

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

Give heed, my people, to my teaching;

    turn your ear to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable

    and reveal hidden lessons of the past.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

When he slew them then they would seek him,

    return and seek him in earnest.

They would remember that God was their rock,

    God the Most High their redeemer.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

But the words they spoke were mere flattery;

    they lied to him with their lips.

For their hearts were not truly with him;

    they were not faithful to his covenant.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

Yet he who is full of compassion

    forgave them their sin and spared them.

So often he held back his anger

    when he might have stirred up his rage.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

________

When a Feast of the Lord falls on a weekday, there is no reading after the Psalm and before the Gospel.

________

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

We adore you, O Christ, 

and we bless you;

because by your cross 

you have redeemed the world.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

John 3:13-17

God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who came down from heaven,

the Son of Man who is in heaven;

and the Son of Man must be lifted up

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.’

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13 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop, Doctor 

on Friday of week 23 in Ordinary Time

Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II)

Readings for the feria (Friday)

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First reading

1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-27

We go into strict training, like fighters at the games

I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.

    So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.

    All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither. That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified.

________

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 83(84):3-6,12

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

My soul is longing and yearning,

    is yearning for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and my soul ring out their joy

    to God, the living God.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

The sparrow herself finds a home

    and the swallow a nest for her brood;

she lays her young by your altars,

    Lord of hosts, my king and my God.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

They are happy, who dwell in your house,

    for ever singing your praise.

They are happy, whose strength is in you,

    in whose hearts are the roads to Zion.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

For the Lord God is a rampart, a shield;

    he will give us his favour and glory.

The Lord will not refuse any good

    to those who walk without blame.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

________

Gospel Acclamation

Ps147:12,15

Alleluia, alleluia!

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

He sends out his word to the earth.

Alleluia!

Or:

Jn17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord:

consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

Luke 6:39-42

Can the blind lead the blind?

Jesus told a parable to the disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.’

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12 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

Thursday of week 23 in Ordinary Time 

 or The Most Holy Name of Mary 

Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II)

Readings at Mass

________

First reading

1 Corinthians 8:1-7,11-13

Your brethren may be weaker than you: do not lead them astray

Now about food sacrificed to idols. ‘We all have knowledge’; yes, that is so, but knowledge gives self-importance – it is love that makes the building grow. A man may imagine he understands something, but still not understand anything in the way that he ought to. But any man who loves God is known by him. Well then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that idols do not really exist in the world and that there is no god but the One. And even if there were things called gods, either in the sky or on earth – where there certainly seem to be ‘gods’ and ‘lords’ in plenty – still for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we exist.

    Some people, however, do not have this knowledge. There are some who have been so long used to idols that they eat this food as though it really had been sacrificed to the idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled by it. In this way your knowledge could become the ruin of someone weak, of a brother for whom Christ died. By sinning in this way against your brothers, and injuring their weak consciences, it would be Christ against whom you sinned. That is why, since food can be the occasion of my brother’s downfall, I shall never eat meat again in case I am the cause of a brother’s downfall.

________

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 138(139):1-3,13-14,23-24

Lead me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.

O Lord, you search me and you know me,

    you know my resting and my rising,

    you discern my purpose from afar.

You mark when I walk or lie down,

    all my ways lie open to you.

Lead me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.

For it was you who created my being,

    knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I thank you for the wonder of my being,

    for the wonders of all your creation.

Lead me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.

Already you knew my soul,

O search me, God, and know my heart.

    O test me and know my thoughts.

See that I follow not the wrong path

    and lead me in the path of life eternal.

Lead me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.

________

Gospel Acclamation

Jm1:21

Alleluia, alleluia!

Accept and submit to the word

which has been planted in you

and can save your souls.

Alleluia!

Or:

1Jn4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

As long as we love one another

God will live in us

and his love will be complete in us.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

Luke 6:27-38

Love your enemies

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

    ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’

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11 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

Wednesday of week 23 in Ordinary Time 

Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).

Readings at Mass

________

First reading

1 Corinthians 7:25-31

The world as we know it is passing away

About remaining celibate, I have no directions from the Lord but give my own opinion as one who, by the Lord’s mercy, has stayed faithful. Well then, I believe that in these present times of stress this is right: that it is good for a man to stay as he is. If you are tied to a wife, do not look for freedom; if you are free of a wife, then do not look for one. But if you marry, it is no sin, and it is not a sin for a young girl to get married. They will have their troubles, though, in their married life, and I should like to spare you that.

    Brothers, this is what I mean: our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they had none, and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those who are enjoying life should live as though there were nothing to laugh about; those whose life is buying things should live as though they had nothing of their own; and those who have to deal with the world should not become engrossed in it. I say this because the world as we know it is passing away.

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Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 44(45):11-12,14-17

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words:

    forget your own people and your father’s house.

So will the king desire your beauty:

    He is your lord, pay homage to him.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

The daughter of the king is clothed with splendour,

    her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold.

She is led to the king with her maiden companions.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

They are escorted amid gladness and joy;

    they pass within the palace of the king.

Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers:

    you will make them princes over all the earth.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

________

Gospel Acclamation

1Jn2:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,

God’s love comes to perfection in him.

Alleluia!

Or:

Lk6:23ab

Alleluia, alleluia!

Rejoice and be glad:

your reward will be great in heaven.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

Luke 6:20-26

Happy are you who are poor, who are hungry, who weep

Fixing his eyes on his disciples Jesus said:

‘How happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God.

Happy you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied.

Happy you who weep now: you shall laugh.

Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.

‘But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now.

Alas for you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry.

Alas for you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.

‘Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.’

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10 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

Tuesday of week 23 in Ordinary Time 

Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II)

Readings at Mass

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First reading

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Do not drag your brother to a pagan for judgement

How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the law courts of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge angels, it follows that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you have had cases of that kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even respected in the Church. You should be ashamed: is there really not one reliable man among you to settle differences between brothers and so one brother brings a court case against another in front of unbelievers? It is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing the wronging and the cheating, and to your own brothers.

    You know perfectly well that people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters, adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God. These are the sort of people some of you were once, but now you have been washed clean, and sanctified, and justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.

________

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 149:1-6,9

The Lord takes delight in his people.

or

Alleluia!

Sing a new song to the Lord,

    his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel rejoice in its Maker,

    let Zion’s sons exult in their king.

The Lord takes delight in his people.

or

Alleluia!

Let them praise his name with dancing

    and make music with timbrel and harp.

For the Lord takes delight in his people.

    He crowns the poor with salvation.

The Lord takes delight in his people.

or

Alleluia!

Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,

    shout for joy and take their rest.

Let the praise of God be on their lips:

    this honour is for all his faithful.

The Lord takes delight in his people.

or

Alleluia!

________

Gospel Acclamation

Ph2:15-16

Alleluia, alleluia!

You will shine in the world like bright stars

because you are offering it the word of life.

Alleluia!

Or:

cf.Jn15:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

I chose you from the world

to go out and bear fruit,

fruit that will last,

says the Lord.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

Luke 6:12-19

Jesus chooses his twelve apostles

Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

    He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.

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9 September 2024 - Daily Mass Readings

Monday of week 23 in Ordinary Time 

or Saint Peter Claver 

Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II)

Readings at Mass

________

First reading

1 Corinthians 5:1-8

Get rid of the old yeast of evil and wickedness

I have been told as an undoubted fact that one of you is living with his father’s wife. This is a case of sexual immorality among you that must be unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning. A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present. When you are assembled together in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I am spiritually present with you, then with the power of our Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

    The pride that you take in yourselves is hardly to your credit. You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

________

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 5:5-7,12

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You are no God who loves evil;

    no sinner is your guest.

The boastful shall not stand their ground

    before your face.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You hate all who do evil;

    you destroy all who lie.

The deceitful and bloodthirsty man

    the Lord detests.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

All those you protect shall be glad

    and ring out their joy.

You shelter them; in you they rejoice,

    those who love your name.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

________

Gospel Acclamation

Ps118:105

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is a lamp for my steps

and a light for my path.

Alleluia!

Or:

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, 

says the Lord, 

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel

Luke 6:6-11

Is it against the law on the sabbath to save life?

On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

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