Daily Readings for Tuesday February 15, 2011

Reading 1, Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10

5 Yahweh saw that human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing but wicked schemes all day long.

6 Yahweh regretted having made human beings on earth and was grieved at heart.

7 And Yahweh said, 'I shall rid the surface of the earth of the human beings whom I created -- human and animal, the creeping things and the birds of heaven -- for I regret having made them.'

8 But Noah won Yahweh's favour.

1 Yahweh said to Noah, 'Go aboard the ark, you and all your household, for you alone of your contemporaries do I see before me as an upright man.

2 Of every clean animal you must take seven pairs, a male and its female; of the unclean animals you must take one pair, a male and its female

3 (and of the birds of heaven, seven pairs, a male and its female), to preserve their species throughout the earth.

4 For in seven days' time I shall make it rain on earth for forty days and forty nights, and I shall wipe every creature I have made off the face of the earth.'

5 Noah did exactly as Yahweh commanded him.

10 Seven days later the waters of the flood appeared on earth.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 29:1-2, 3-4, 8, 9-10

1 [Psalm Of David] Give Yahweh his due, sons of God, give Yahweh his due of glory and strength,

2 give Yahweh the glory due to his name, adore Yahweh in the splendour of holiness.

3 Yahweh's voice over the waters, the God of glory thunders; Yahweh over countless waters,

4 Yahweh's voice in power, Yahweh's voice in splendour;

8 Yahweh's voice convulses the desert, Yahweh convulses the desert of Kadesh,

9 Yahweh's voice convulses terebinths, strips forests bare. In his palace all cry, 'Glory!'

10 Yahweh was enthroned for the flood, Yahweh is enthroned as king for ever.

Gospel, Mk 8:14-21

14 The disciples had forgotten to take any bread and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

15 Then he gave them this warning, 'Keep your eyes open; look out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.'

16 And they said to one another, 'It is because we have no bread.'

17 And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, 'Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not understand, still not realise? Are your minds closed?

18 Have you eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear? Or do you not remember?

19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?' They answered, 'Twelve.'

20 'And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?' And they answered, 'Seven.'

21 Then he said to them, 'Do you still not realise?' 

Bishops take steps to end fighting in Mexico

The bishops of Mexico lately met with Church officials in Columbia to talk about ways to end the violence that has claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 in Mexico.

Several bishops from Mexico attended the 15th Plenary Assembly of bishops in Colombia to seek guidance on how to deal with the fighting that has swept Mexico.

Archbishop Carlos Garfias Merlos of Acapulco, Mexico reflected on the conference Feb. 10 saying, the work carried out by the Church in Colombia to disband equipped rebel groups could also be simulated in Mexico.

He noted that while it is still uncertain whether the Church in Mexico will be asked to help out in ending the violence in the country, arrangements should be made, as such a request could come “in the short or medium term.”

Archbishop Garfias later told Vatican Radio that the gathering gave the Mexican bishops a chance “to learn about the experience and the charity that the Church has made to society in Colombia.”

Over the course of the Feb. 7 – 11 meeting in Bogota, Colombia, the bishops communal pastoral experiences on solving armed conflict and discussed elements that are necessary for peace building.

The Mexican bishops received “excellent guidance during these three days, and we are bringing back a lot of ideas that I think will be helpful,” Archbishop Garfias concluded.

Daily Bible Readings for Monday February 14, 2011

Reading 1, Gn 4:1-15, 25

1 The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. 'I have acquired a man with the help of Yahweh,' she said.

2 She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil.

3 Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh,

4 while Abel for his part brought the first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering.

5 But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast.

6 Yahweh asked Cain, 'Why are you angry and downcast?

7 If you are doing right, surely you ought to hold your head high! But if you are not doing right, Sin is crouching at the door hungry to get you. You can still master him.'

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let us go out'; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Yahweh asked Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' 'I do not know,' he replied. 'Am I my brother's guardian?'

10 'What have you done?' Yahweh asked. 'Listen! Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

11 Now be cursed and banned from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood at your hands.

12 When you till the ground it will no longer yield up its strength to you. A restless wanderer you will be on earth.'

13 Cain then said to Yahweh, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear.

14 Look, today you drive me from the surface of the earth. I must hide from you, and be a restless wanderer on earth. Why, whoever comes across me will kill me!'

15 'Very well, then,' Yahweh replied, 'whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.' So Yahweh put a mark on Cain, so that no one coming across him would kill him.

25 Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she named Seth, 'because God has granted me other offspring', she said, 'in place of Abel, since Cain has killed him.' 

Daily Readings for Thursday February 10, 2011

Reading 1, Gn 2:18-25 

18 Yahweh God said, 'It is not right that the man should be alone. I shall make him a helper.'

19 So from the soil Yahweh God fashioned all the wild animals and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it.

20 The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild animals. But no helper suitable for the man was found for him.

21 Then, Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And, while he was asleep, he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh up again forthwith.

22 Yahweh God fashioned the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.

23 And the man said: This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She is to be called Woman, because she was taken from Man.

24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Now, both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame before each other.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

1 [Song of Ascents] How blessed are all who fear Yahweh, who walk in his ways!

2 Your own labours will yield you a living, happy and prosperous will you be.

3 Your wife a fruitful vine in the inner places of your house. Your children round your table like shoots of an olive tree.

4 Such are the blessings that fall on those who fear Yahweh.

5 May Yahweh bless you from Zion! May you see Jerusalem prosper all the days of your life,

Gospel, Mk 7:24-30

24 He left that place and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there; but he could not pass unrecognised.

25 At once a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him and came and fell at his feet.

26 Now this woman was a gentile, by birth a Syro-Phoenician, and she begged him to drive the devil out of her daughter.

27 And he said to her, 'The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to little dogs.'

28 But she spoke up, 'Ah yes, sir,' she replied, 'but little dogs under the table eat the scraps from the children.'

29 And he said to her, 'For saying this you may go home happy; the devil has gone out of your daughter.'

30 So she went off home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil gone.

Pope prays for peaceful ending of Egyptian unrest

Pope Benedict XVI prayed for a peaceful ending of the political unrest in Egypt, and the Vatican spokesman said he hoped the changes in the area would lead to greater religious freedom.

"In these days I am following closely the fragile situation of the dear Egyptian nation," the pope told pilgrims at his noon blessing at the Vatican Feb. 6.

"I ask God that this land, blessed by the attendance of the Holy Family, may find again tranquility and peaceful coexistence, in a shared commitment to the common good," the pope said.

It was Pope Benedict's first remark on nearly two weeks of protest demonstrations that have shaken President Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30-year hold on power.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, reviewed the political turmoil in Egypt in a commentary Feb. 5 on Vatican Radio. He said it was not wrong to speak of a "revolution" in countries of North Africa and the Middle East, where extensive political opposition has emerged for the first time.

Father Lombardi said that along with economic causes of the unrest, many people of the region -- particularly young people -- want more freedom and a more responsive government. He noted that at the new Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, leaders of Christian minorities there made similar calls for religious freedom.

"Now there are whole populations that, in order to more fully realize their dignity, are asking to exercise more responsibly the right of citizenship that belongs to every person of whatever religion," the spokesman said.

"If these mostly Muslim nations succeed in the crucial undertaking of growth in dialogue, in the respect of the rights of everyone, in contribution and in freedom, then the world will be a safer place," Father Lombardi said.

Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday February 09, 2011

Reading 1, Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17

4 Such was the story of heaven and earth as they were created. At the time when Yahweh God made earth and heaven

5 there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil.

6 Instead, water flowed out of the ground and watered all the surface of the soil.

7 Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being.

8 Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned.

9 From the soil, Yahweh God caused to grow every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

15 Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it.

16 Then Yahweh God gave the man this command, 'You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden.

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.'

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 104:1-2, 27-28, 29-30

1 Bless Yahweh, my soul, Yahweh, my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and splendour,

2 wearing the light as a robe! You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

27 They all depend upon you, to feed them when they need it.

28 You provide the food they gather, your open hand gives them their fill.

29 Turn away your face and they panic; take back their breath and they die and revert to dust.

30 Send out your breath and life begins; you renew the face of the earth.

Gospel, Mk 7:14-23

14 He called the people to him again and said, 'Listen to me, all of you, and understand.

15 Nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean; it is the things that come out of someone that make that person unclean.

16 Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!'

17 When he had gone into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable.

18 He said to them, 'Even you -- don't you understand? Can't you see that nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean,

19 because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach and passes into the sewer?

20 And he went on, 'It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean.

21 For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder,

22 adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly.

23 All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.' 

Daily Bible Readings for Sunday February 06, 2011

Reading 1, Is 58:7-10

7 Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own kin?

8 Then your light will blaze out like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Saving justice will go ahead of you and Yahweh's glory come behind you.

9 Then you will cry for help and Yahweh will answer; you will call and he will say, 'I am here.' If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist and malicious words,

10 if you deprive yourself for the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkest hour will be like noon.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

4 For the honest he shines as a lamp in the dark, generous, tender-hearted, and upright.

5 All goes well for one who lends generously, who is honest in all his dealing;

6 for all time to come he will not stumble, for all time to come the upright will be remembered.

7 Bad news holds no fears for him, firm is his heart, trusting in Yahweh.

8 His heart held steady, he has no fears, till he can gloat over his enemies.

9 To the needy he gives without stint, his uprightness stands firm for ever; his reputation is founded on strength.

Gospel, Mt 5:13-16

13 'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet.

14 'You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.

15 No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house.

16 In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.

Reading 2, 1 Cor 2:1-5

1 Now when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with any brilliance of oratory or wise argument to announce to you the mystery of God.

2 I was resolved that the only knowledge I would have while I was with you was knowledge of Jesus, and of him as the crucified Christ.

3 I came among you in weakness, in fear and great trembling

4 and what I spoke and proclaimed was not meant to convince by philosophical argument, but to demonstrate the convincing power of the Spirit,

5 so that your faith should depend not on human wisdom but on the power of God.