Daily Bible Readings for Tuesday April 17, 2012

Reading 1, Acts 4:32-37

32 The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, as everything they owned was held in common.

33 The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all accorded great respect.

34 None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from the sale of them,

35 to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any who might be in need.

36 There was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas (which means 'son of encouragement').

37 He owned a piece of land and he sold it and brought the money and presented it to the apostles.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 93:1, 1-2, 5

1 Yahweh is king, robed in majesty, robed is Yahweh and girded with power.

2 The world is indeed set firm, it can never be shaken; your throne is set firm from of old, from all eternity you exist.

5 Your decrees stand firm, unshakeable, holiness is the beauty of your house, Yahweh, for all time to come.

Gospel, John 3:7-15

7 Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above.

8 The wind blows where it pleases; you can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

9 'How is that possible?' asked Nicodemus.

10 Jesus replied, 'You are the Teacher of Israel, and you do not know these things!

11 'In all truth I tell you, we speak only about what we know and witness only to what we have seen and yet you people reject our evidence.

12 If you do not believe me when I speak to you about earthly things, how will you believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?

13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of man;

14 as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up

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

Daily Bible Readings for Friday January 13, 2012

Reading 1, First Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22

4 The elders of Israel all assembled, went back to Samuel at Ramah, and said,

5 'Look, you are old, and your sons are not following your example. So give us a king to judge us, like the other nations.'

6 Samuel thought that it was wrong of them to say, 'Let us have a king to judge us,' so he prayed to Yahweh.

7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, 'Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you: it is not you they have rejected

10 Everything that Yahweh had said, Samuel then repeated to the people who were asking him for a king.

11 He said, 'This is what the king who is to reign over you will do. He will take your sons and direct them to his chariotry and cavalry, and they will run in front of his chariot.

12 He will use them as leaders of a thousand and leaders of fifty; he will make them plough his fields and gather in his harvest and make his weapons of war and the gear for his chariots.

13 He will take your daughters as perfumers, cooks and bakers.

14 He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his officials.

15 He will tithe your crops and vineyards to provide for his courtiers and his officials.

16 He will take the best of your servants, men and women, of your oxen and your donkeys, and make them work for him.

17 He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.

18 When that day comes, you will cry aloud because of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but on that day Yahweh will not hear you.'

19 The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel. They said, 'No! We are determined to have a king,

20 so that we can be like the other nations, with our own king to rule us and lead us and fight our battles.'

21 Samuel listened to all that the people had to say and repeated it in Yahweh's ear.

22 Yahweh then said to Samuel, 'Do as they ask and give them a king.' Samuel then said to the Israelites, 'Go home, each of you, to his own town.'

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 89:16-17, 18-19

16 In your name they rejoice all day long, by your saving justice they are raised up.

17 You are the flower of their strength, by your favour our strength is triumphant;

18 for to Yahweh belongs our shield, to the Holy One of Israel our king.

19 Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful you said: 'I have given strength to a warrior, I have raised up a man chosen from my people.

Gospel, Mark 2:1-12

1 When he returned to Capernaum, some time later word went round that he was in the house;

2 and so many people collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door. He was preaching the word to them

3 when some people came bringing him a paralytic carried by four men,

4 but as they could not get the man to him through the crowd, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay.

5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'My child, your sins are forgiven.'

6 Now some scribes were sitting there, and they thought to themselves,

7 'How can this man talk like that? He is being blasphemous. Who but God can forgive sins?'

8 And at once, Jesus, inwardly aware that this is what they were thinking, said to them, 'Why do you have these thoughts in your hearts?

9 Which of these is easier: to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven" or to say, "Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk"?

10 But to prove to you that the Son of man has authority to forgive sins on earth' --

11 he said to the paralytic-'I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.'

12 And the man got up, and at once picked up his stretcher and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astonished and praised God saying, 'We have never seen anything like this.'

Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday November 30, 2011

Reading 1, Rom 10:9-18

Daily Readings for Wednesday November 30, 2011

Reading 1, Rom 10:9-18

9 that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.

10 It is by believing with the heart that you are justified, and by making the declaration with your lips that you are saved.

11 When scripture says: No one who relies on this will be brought to disgrace,

12 it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: the same Lord is the Lord of all, and his generosity is offered to all who appeal to him,

13 for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

14 How then are they to call on him if they have not come to believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard of him? And how will they hear of him unless there is a preacher for them?

15 And how will there be preachers if they are not sent? As scripture says: How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of good news.

16 But in fact they have not all responded to the good news. As Isaiah says: Lord, who has given credence to what they have heard from us?

17 But it is in that way faith comes, from hearing, and that means hearing the word of Christ.

18 Well then, I say, is it possible that they have not heard? Indeed they have: in the entire earth their voice stands out, their message reaches the whole world.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 19:2-3, 4-5

2 day discourses of it to day, night to night hands on the knowledge.

3 No utterance at all, no speech, not a sound to be heard,

4 but from the entire earth the design stands out, this message reaches the whole world. High above, he pitched a tent for the sun,

5 who comes forth from his pavilion like a bridegroom, delights like a champion in the course to be run.

Gospel, Mt 4:18-22

18 As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen.

19 And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.'

20 And at once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.

22 And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him. 

Daily Bible Readings for Tuesday November 01, 2011

Reading 1, Rv 7:2-4, 9-14

2 Then I saw another angel rising where the sun rises, carrying the seal of the living God; he called in a powerful voice to the four angels whose duty was to devastate land and sea,

3 'Wait before you do any damage on land or at sea or to the trees, until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.'

4 And I heard how many had been sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel.

9 After that I saw that there was a huge number, impossible for anyone to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted in a loud voice,

10 'Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'

11 And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four living creatures, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God

12 with these words: Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.

13 One of the elders then spoke and asked me, 'Who are these people, dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?'

14 I answered him, 'You can tell me, sir.' Then he said, 'These are the people who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

1 [Psalm Of David] To Yahweh belong the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live there;

2 it is he who laid its foundations on the seas, on the flowing waters fixed it firm.

3 Who shall go up to the mountain of Yahweh? Who shall take a stand in his holy place?

4 The clean of hands and pure of heart, whose heart is not set on vanities, who does not swear an oath in order to deceive.

5 Such a one will receive blessing from Yahweh, saving justice from the God of his salvation.

6 Such is the people that seeks him, that seeks your presence, God of Jacob.Pause

Gospel, Mt 5:1-12a

1 Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was seated his disciples came to him.

2 Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

3 How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

4 Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance.

5 Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill.

7 Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 'Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account.

12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

Reading 2, 1 Jn 3:1-3

1 You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children -- which is what we are! The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him.

2 My dear friends, we are already God's children, but what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.

3 Whoever treasures this hope of him purifies himself, to be as pure as he is.

Daily b Readings for Sunday October 09, 2011

Reading 1, Is 25:6-10a

6 On this mountain, for all peoples, Yahweh Sabaoth is preparing a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of succulent food, of well-strained wines.

7 On this mountain, he has destroyed the veil which used to veil all peoples, the pall enveloping all nations;

8 he has destroyed death for ever. Lord Yahweh has wiped away the tears from every cheek; he has taken his people's shame away everywhere on earth, for Yahweh has spoken.

9 And on that day, it will be said, 'Look, this is our God, in him we put our hope that he should save us, this is Yahweh, we put our hope in him. Let us exult and rejoice since he has saved us.'

10 For Yahweh's hand will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be trodden under his feet as straw is trodden into the dung-heap.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

1 [Psalm Of David] Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2 In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me

3 to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.

4 Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.

5 You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over.

6 Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.

Gospel, Mt 22:1-14

1 Jesus began to speak to them in parables once again,

2 'The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son's wedding.

3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come.

4 Next he sent some more servants with the words, "Tell those who have been invited: Look, my banquet is all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding."

5 But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business,

6 and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them.

7 The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town.

8 Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy,

9 go to the main crossroads and invite everyone you can find to come to the wedding."

10 So these servants went out onto the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment,

12 and said to him, "How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?" And the man was silent.

13 Then the king said to the attendants, "Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."

14 For many are invited but not all are chosen.'

Reading 2, Phil 4:12-14, 19-20

12 I know how to live modestly, and I know how to live luxuriously too: in every way now I have mastered the secret of all conditions: full stomach and empty stomach, plenty and poverty.

13 There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me.

14 All the same, it was good of you to share with me in my hardships.

19 And my God will fulfil all your needs out of the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

20 And so glory be to God our Father, for ever and ever. Amen.