Monday, November 4, 2013

Daily Readings for November 5, 2013

1ST READING Romans 12:5-16
5 Brothers and sisters: We, though many, are one Body in Christ and individually parts of one another. 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; 7 if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; 8 if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. 11 Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.

P S A L M Psalm 131:1, 2, 3
R: In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.
1 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. (R) 
2 Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me. (R) 
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord, both now and forever. (R)

GOSPEL Luke 14:15-24
15 One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” 16 He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. 17 When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ 18 But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22 The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ 23 The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. 24 For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”





Sunday, November 3, 2013

Daily Readings for November 4, 2013

1ST READING Romans 11:29-36
29 Brothers and sisters: The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32 For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? 35 Or who has given him anything that he may be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To God be glory forever. Amen.

P S A L M Psalm 69:30-31, 33-34, 36-37
R: Lord, in your great love, answer me.
29 [30] But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help, O God, protect me. 30 [31] I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. (R) 
32 [33] “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revived! 33 [34] For the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.” (R) 
35 [36] For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. They shall dwell in the land and own it, 36 [37] and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall inhabit it. (R)

GOSPEL Luke 14:12-14
12 On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. 13 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; 14 blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”


Daily Readings for November 3, 2013

1ST READING Wisdom 11:22-12:2
22 Before the Lord the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. 23 But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. 24 For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. 25 And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? 26 But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, 12: 1 for your imperishable spirit is in all things! 2 Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord!

P S A L M Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14
R: I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
1 I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. (R) 
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. 9 The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) 
10 Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. 11 Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. (R) 
13 The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. 14 The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. (R)

2ND READING 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
11 Brothers and sisters: We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. 2: 1 We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, 2 not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

GOSPEL Luke 19:1-10
1 At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 2 Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, 3 was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. 5 When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 7 When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”


Saturday, November 2, 2013

Daily Readings for November 2, 2013

1ST READING 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 (Wisdom 3:1-9)
43 Judas, the ruler of Israel, took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; 44 for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. 45 But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. 46 Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.

P S A L M Psalm 23:1-3, 4, 5, 6 (or Psalm 103:8, 10, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18)
R: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. 2 In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. (R) 
4 Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage. (R) 
5 You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (R) 
6 Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come. (R)

2ND READING Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 (Romans 6:3-9)
31 Brothers and sisters: If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, will he not also give us everything else along with him? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. 34 Who will condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? 37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOSPEL John 14:1-6 (or Matthew 25:31-46)
1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. 4 Where I am going you know the way.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”


Friday, November 1, 2013

Daily Readings for November 1, 2013

1ST READING Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
2 I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, 3 “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel. 9 After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshipped God, 12 and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My Lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”

P S A L M Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
1 The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 
3 Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 
5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. (R)

2ND READING 1 John 3:1-3
1 Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.

GOSPEL Matthew 5:1-12
1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. 6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”