Monday, May 20, 2013
St. Bernardine of Siena, OFM Priest (Memorial)
Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; for the King hath greatly desired thy beauty;. With thy comeliness and thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously, and reign.
-- Psalm 45:11,12
First Reading: Sirach 1:1-10
Psalm: Psalm 93:1-2, 5
Gospel: Mark 9:14-29
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 (Weekday)
If people would do for God what they do for the world, my dear people, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven! But if you dear children, had to pass three or four hours praying in a Church, as you pass them at a dance or in a cabaret, how heavily the world would press upon you.
-- St John Vianney
First Reading: Sirach 2:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 [St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Optional Memorial)]
We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal infinite (immensus) and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; three persons indeed, but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple.
-- Lateran Council IV
First Reading: Sirach 4:11-19
Psalm: Psalm 119:165, 168, 171-172, 174-175
Gospel: Mark 9:38-40
Thursday, May 23, 2013 (Weekday)
Since all things lie open to His eyes and ears, let us hold Him in awe and rid ourselves of impure desires to do works of evil, so that we may be protected by His mercy from the judgement that is to come. Which of us can escape His mighty hand?
-- Pope St. Clement
First Reading: Sirach 5:1-8
Psalm: Psalm 1:1-4, 6
Gospel: Mark 9:41-50
Friday, May 24, 2013 [Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (Feast)]
You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since He who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for He is not subject to time.
-- St. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos
First Reading: Revelation 21:1-5
Psalm: Psalm 95:1-7
Gospel: John 10:22-30
Saturday, May 25, 2013 [Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
Christ said, 'I am the Truth'; he did not say 'I am the custom.'
-- St Toribio
First Reading: Sirach 17:1-15
Psalm: Psalm 103:13-18
Gospel: Mark 10:13-16
Sunday, May 26, 2013 [The Most Holy Trinity (Solemnity)]
Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?
-- St. Augustine
First Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31
Psalm: Psalm 8:4-9
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-5
Gospel: John 16:12-15
INSPIRATION FOR TODAY
The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example. Our Lord, in His wonderous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers. Thus the decisions your children have made don't make you a failure as a parent in God's eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God's grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary,at the end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,"With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart", she will attend to their souls.
-- St. Louise de Marillac
READINGS FOR TODAY
Sunday, May 19, 2013 [Pentecost Sunday (Solemnity)]
First Reading: Acts 2:1-11
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
1When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place.
2 Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there.
4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world.
6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages.
7 In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, “These people who are talking like this are Galileans!
8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages?
9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, 10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, 11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia—yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!”
Psalm: Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34
1 O Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are clothed with majesty and glory;
24 Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures.
29 When you turn away, they are afraid;
when you take away your breath, they die
and go back to the dust from which they came.
30 But when you give them breath, they are created;
you give new life to the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last forever!
May the Lord be happy with what he has made!
34 May he be pleased with my song,
for my gladness comes from him.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
3 I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord,” without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.
5 There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.
6 There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.
7 The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.
<b>One Body with Many Parts</b>
12 Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.
13 In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
OR
Romans 8:8-17
8 Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.
9 But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because of sin.
11 If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you.
12 So then, my friends, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to.
13 For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live.
14 Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children.
15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!”
16 God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children.
17 Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.
Gospel: John 20:19-23
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
(Matthew 28.16-20; Mark 16.14-18; Luke 24.36-49)
19 It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.
20 After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.”
22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
