To the upright I will show the saving power of God - Daily Mass Readings March 15, 2022

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Lectionary: 231
Reading I
Is 1:10, 16-20

Hear the word of the LORD,
            princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
            people of Gomorrah!

            Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
            cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
            hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.

Come now, let us set things right,
            says the LORD:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
            they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
            they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey,
            you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist,
            the sword shall consume you:
            for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!
Responsorial Psalm
50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

R.        (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
            for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
            no goats out of your fold.”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
            and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
            and cast my words behind you?”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
            Or do you think that I am like yourself?
            I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
            and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Verse Before the Gospel
Ez 18:31

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Gospel
Mt 23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins - Daily Mass Readings March 14, 2022

Monday of the Second Week in Lent

Lectionary: 230
Reading I
Dn 9:4b-10

“Lord, great and awesome God,
you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you
and observe your commandments!
We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.
We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the people of the land.
Justice, O Lord, is on your side;
we are shamefaced even to this day:
we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, near and far,
in all the countries to which you have scattered them
because of their treachery toward you.
O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against you.
But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you
and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God,
to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets.”

Responsorial Psalm
79:8, 9, 11 and 13

R.        (see 103:10a)  Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
            may your compassion quickly come to us,
            for we are brought very low.
R.        Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Help us, O God our savior,
            because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
            for your name’s sake.
R.        Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you;
            with your great power free those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
            will give thanks to you forever;
            through all generations we will declare your praise.
R.        Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Verse Before the Gospel
See Jn 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.

Gospel
Lk 6:36-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

The Lord is my light and my salvation - Daily Mass Readings March 13, 2022

Second Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 27
Reading I
Gn 15:5-12, 17-18

The Lord God took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

He then said to him,
“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”
“O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
He answered him,
“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.

When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14.

R. (1a)  The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
   whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
   of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;
   have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
   Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
   You are my helper: cast me not off.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
   in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
   be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Reading II
Phil 3:17—4:1

Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters,
and observe those who thus conduct themselves
according to the model you have in us.
For many, as I have often told you
and now tell you even in tears,
conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach;
their glory is in their “shame.”
Their minds are occupied with earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord.

or:

Phil 3:20—4:1

Brothers and sisters:
Our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.
Verse Before the Gospel
Cf. Mt 17:5

From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel
Lk 9:28b-36

Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up the mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,
but becoming fully awake,
they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But he did not know what he was saying.
While he was still speaking,
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
They fell silent and did not at that time
tell anyone what they had seen.

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! - Daily Mass Readings March 12, 2022

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Lectionary: 229
Reading I
Dt 26:16-19

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
“This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised.”

Responsorial Psalm
119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

R.        (1b)  Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
            who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
            who seek him with all their heart.
R.        Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
            be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
            of keeping your statutes!
R.        Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
            when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
            do not utterly forsake me.
R.        Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Verse Before the Gospel
2 Cor 6:2b

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Gospel
Mt 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”