21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Date: August 26, 2012

First Reading (Joshua 24: 1–2a, 15–17, 18b)
A reading from the book of Joshua.
Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leader, their judges, and their officers. Together they presented themselves before God. Addressing the people, Joshua stated to them: "If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your father served beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." The people answered, "May God not permit that we ever abandon the Lord to serve other Gods! For it was he who brought us and our ancestors out of Egypt, the house of slavery. It was he who did those great wonders that we have seen; he protected us on the way and through all the land where we passed. Therefore, we shall also serve the Lord, for he is our God!"

Second Reading (Ephesians 5: 21–32)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians.
Brothers and sisters: Let all kinds of submission to one another become obedience to Christ. So wives to their husbands: as to the Lord. The husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of whom he is also the Savior. And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband. As for you, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. He washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word. As he wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, he himself had to prepare and present her to himself. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies, he who love his wife loves himself. And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it. That is just what Christ does for the Church, because we are a part of his body. The Scripture states: Because of this, a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a very great mystery, and I refer to Christ and the Church.

Gospel (John 6: 60–69)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
After hearing what Jesus and stated before about the bread of life, plenty of Jesus' followers complained, "This language is very difficult; who can accept it?" Jesus was aware that his disciples were discussing and murmuring about this, so he states to them, "Does this offend you? Then how will react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh cannot help. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. But among you there are some who do not believe." From the beginning, Jesus knew who would betray him. So he added, "As I have told you, nobody can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." After this, many disciples withdrew and no longer followed him. Jesus asked the Twelve, "Will you also go away?" Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We now believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Date: August 19, 2012

First Reading (Proverbs 9: 1–6)
A reading from the book of Proverbs.
Wisdom has built her house set upon seven pillars; she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine and laid her table. Next, she sent her servants to call from the central square of the city, "Pass by here, you who are fools." To the senseless she states, "Come, eat and drink of the bread and wine I have prepared. Give up your foolishness and you will live; take the straight path of discernment."

Second Reading (Ephesians 5: 15–20)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians.
Brothers and sisters: Pay attention to how you behave. Do not live as the unwise do, but as responsible persons. Try to make good use of the present time, because these days are evil. So do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk: wine leads to levity; but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Gather together to pray with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and celebrate the Lord in your heart, giving thanks to God the Father in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, always and for everything.

Gospel (John 6: 51–58)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
Jesus stated this to the Jews, "I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world." The Jews were arguing among themselves, "How can this man give us flesh to eat?" So Jesus replied, "Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood live with the eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is really food and my blood is drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent me and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread which came from heaven; unlike that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever."

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Date: August 12, 2012

First Reading (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10 a & b)
A reading from the book of Revelation.
God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head is a crowd with twelve stars. She was pregnant and wailed aloud in pain as she was looking forward to her time of delivery. Then another sign appeared: a huge, red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and wearing seven crowns on its heads. It had just swept along a third of the stars of heaven with its tail, throwing them down to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour the child as soon as it was born. The woman gave birth to a male child, the one who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter; then her child was seized and taken up to God and to his throne; while the woman fled into the desert where God had prepared a place for her. Then I heard a loud voice from heaven: "Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One."

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 15: 20-27)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.
Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead and he comes before all those who have fallen asleep. A human being brought death; a human being also brings resurrection of the dead. All die for being Adam's, and in Christ all will receive life. However, each one in his own time: first Christ, then Christ's people, when he visits them. Then the end will come, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after having destroyed every rule, authority and power. For he must reign and put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. As the Scriptures states: God has subjected everything under his feet.

Gospel (Luke 1: 39-56)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Mary set out for a town in the Hills of Judah. She enter the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit, and giving a loud cry, she states, "You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true!" And Mary stated, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my savior! He has looked upon his servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is his Name! From age to age his mercy extends to those who live in his presence. He has acted with power and done wonders and scattered the proud with their plans. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He held out his hand to Israel, his servant, for he remembered his mercy, even as he promised our fathers, Abraham and his descendants forever." Mary remained with Elizabeth for approximately three months and then returned home.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Date: August 5, 2012

First Reading (Exodus 16: 2-4 and 12-15)
A reading from the book of Exodus.
In the desert, the whole Israelite community groaned against Moses and Aaron and stated to them, "If only we had died by the sand of the Lord in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!" The Lord then stated to Moses, "Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to save if they will follow my Teaching or not. I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say: Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart's content; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God!" In the evening, quails came up and covered the camp. In the morning, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it starting asking each other, "What is that?" for they did not know what it was. Moses told them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat."

Second Reading (Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24)
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians.
Brothers and sisters: I say to you, then, and with insistence I advise you in the Lord: do not imitate the pagans who live an aimless kind of life. But it is not for this that you have followed Christ. For I suppose that you have heard of him and received his teaching which is seen in Jesus himself. You must give up your former way of living, the old self, whose deceitful desires bring self-destruction. Renew yourselves spiritually, from inside and put on the new self, or self-according to God, which is created in true righteousness and holiness.

Gospel (John 6: 24-35)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they embarked on boats and went to Capernaum searching for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Master, when did you come here?" Jesus answered, "Truly, I say to you, you look for me, not because you have seen through the signs, but because you ate bread and were satisfied. Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which grants you eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for he is the one the Father has marked." Then the Jews asked Jesus, "What should we do? What are the works that God anticipates us to do?" Jesus answered them, "The work God anticipates is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent." They then stated, "Demonstrate us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe you. What sign do you perform? Well, our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as the Scripture states: They were given bread from heaven to eat." Jesus then replied to them, "Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world." the Jews replied to Jesus, "Give us this bread consistently." Jesus explained to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty."