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February 7, 2018 Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 10:1-10 The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon's fame,came to test him with subtle questions.She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue,and with camels bearing spices,a large amount of gold, and precious stones.She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subjectin which she was interested.King Solomon explained everything she asked about,and there remained nothing hidden from himthat he could not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon's great wisdom,the palace he had built, the food at his table,the...

February 6, 2018 Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs Reading 1 1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30 Solomon stood before the altar of the LORDin the presence of the whole community of Israel,and stretching forth his hands toward heaven,he said, “LORD, God of Israel,there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below;you keep your covenant of mercy with your servantswho are faithful to you with their whole heart. “Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth?If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you,how much less this temple which I have built! Look...

February 5, 2018 Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr Reading 1 1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13 The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes,the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel,came to King Solomon in Jerusalem,to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenantfrom the City of David, which is Zion.All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomonduring the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).When all the elders of Israel had arrived,the priests took up the ark;they carried the ark of the LORDand the meeting tent with all the...

February 4, 2018 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 Job spoke, saying:Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?Are not his days those of hirelings?He is a slave who longs for the shade,a hireling who waits for his wages.So I have been assigned months of misery,and troubled nights have been allotted to me.If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"then the night drags on;I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;they come to an end without hope.Remember that my life is like the wind;I shall not see...

February 3, 2018 Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 3:4-13 Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there,because that was the most renowned high place.Upon its altar Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings.In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."Solomon answered:"You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David,because he behaved faithfully toward you,with justice and an upright heart;and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today,seating a son of his on his throne.O...

February 2, 2018 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Reading 1 Mal 3:1-4 Thus says the Lord God:Lo, I am sending my messengerto prepare the way before me;And suddenly there will come to the templethe LORD whom you seek,And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.But who will endure the day of his coming?And who can stand when he appears?For he is like the refiner's fire,or like the fuller's lye.He will sit refining and purifying silver,and he will purify the sons of Levi,Refining them like gold or like silverthat...

February 1, 2018 Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12 When the time of David's death drew near,he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:"I am going the way of all flesh.Take courage and be a man.Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his waysand observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decreesas they are written in the law of Moses,that you may succeed in whatever you do,wherever you turn, and the LORD may fulfillthe promise he made on my behalf when he said,'If your sons so conduct themselvesthat they remain...

January 31, 2018 Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest Reading 1 2 Sm 24:2, 9-17 King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him,"Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-shebaand register the people, that I may know their number."Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered:in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service; in Judah, five hundred thousand. Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,and said to the LORD:"I have sinned grievously in what I have done.But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your...

January 30, 2018 Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Sm18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30–19:3 Absalom unexpectedly came up against David's servants.He was mounted on a mule,and, as the mule passed under the branches of a large terebinth,his hair caught fast in the tree.He hung between heaven and earthwhile the mule he had been riding ran off.Someone saw this and reported to Joabthat he had seen Absalom hanging from a terebinth.And taking three pikes in hand,he thrust for the heart of Absalom,still hanging from the tree alive. Now David was sitting between the two gates,and a...

January 29, 2018 Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Sm 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 An informant came to David with the report,"The children of Israel have transferred their loyalty to Absalom."At this, David said to all his servantswho were with him in Jerusalem:"Up! Let us take flight, or none of us will escape from Absalom.Leave quickly, lest he hurry and overtake us,then visit disaster upon us and put the city to the sword." As David went up the Mount of Olives, he wept without ceasing.His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot.All those who...

January 28, 2018 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Dt 18:15-20 Moses spoke to all the people, saying:"A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for youfrom among your own kin;to him you shall listen.This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horebon the day of the assembly, when you said,'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.'And the LORD said to me, 'This was well said.I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among...

January 27, 2018 Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17 The LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him,Nathan said: "Judge this case for me!In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor.The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers.But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought.He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children.She shared the little food he had and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom.She...

January 26, 2018 Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops Reading 1 2 Tm 1:1-8 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of Godfor the promise of life in Christ Jesus,to Timothy, my dear child:grace, mercy, and peace from God the Fatherand Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to God,whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,so that I may be filled with joy, as I recall your sincere faiththat first lived in your grandmother...

January 25, 2018 Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle Reading 1 Acts 22:3-16 Paul addressed the people in these words:"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,but brought up in this city.At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral lawand was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.I persecuted this Way to death,binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.Even the high priest and the whole council of elderscan testify on my behalf.For from them I even received letters to the brothersand set out for Damascus to...

January 24, 2018 Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 2 Sm 7:4-17 That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:"Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD:Should you build me a house to dwell in?I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the children of Israel 319out of Egypt to the present, but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.In all my wanderings everywhere among the children of Israel, did I ever utter a word to any one of the...

January 23, 2018 Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19 David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities.As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon, as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORDwith shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.The ark of...

January 22, 2018 Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Reading 1 2 Sm 5:1-7, 10 All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said:"Here we are, your bone and your flesh.In days past, when Saul was our king, it was you who led the children of Israel out and brought them back.And the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel.'"When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron, King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD, and they...

January 21, 2018 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 3:1-5, 10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:"Set out for the great city of Nineveh,and announce to it the message that I will tell you."So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,according to the LORD'S bidding.Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;it took three days to go through it.Jonah began his journey through the city,and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, "when the people of Nineveh believed God;they proclaimed a fastand all of them, great and...

January 19, 2018 Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Sm 24:3-21 Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men in the direction of the wild goat crags.When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave, which he entered to relieve himself.David and his men were occupying the inmost recesses of the cave. David's servants said to him, "This is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'I will deliver your enemy into your grasp; do with him as...

January 18, 2018 Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7 When David and Saul approached(on David's return after slaying the Philistine), women came out from each of the cities of Israel to meet King Saul,singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and sistrums.The women played and sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought:"They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me.All that remains for him is the kingship."And from that day on, Saul was jealous...