Eleventh Sunday First Reading: Ezekiel predicts God’s restoration of Judah, using the imagery of planting a cedar tree. These Old Testament texts provide the background for Jesus’ words in the Gospel. Psalm: this psalm, which has been described as ‘the song of a happy man’, picks up the image of the cedar tree from the…
Corpus Christi First Reading: this tells of the covenant between God and Moses, which involved blood sacrifices. For Catholics – people of the new covenant – every Mass is a sacrifice, a representing of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The Psalm continues the theme of the thanksgiving sacrifice. Second Reading: Christ is the mediator of…
The Most Holy Trinity First Reading: this is perhaps the first and clearest statement we find in the Old Testament of monotheism, the belief that there is one God and no other. The Psalm blends various attributes of God, who is faithful, concerned with justice and love, the creator, the rescuer of his people from…
Pentecost Sunday The First Reading – the account in Acts of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles – puts fear and trembling in the hearts of Mass readers everywhere, because of the many names! Psalm: this is the traditional one for this day. For the Second Reading either that from 1 Corinthians…
Ascension of the Lord The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (which begins with the Ascension of the Lord), the Psalm (which Christian tradition has always taken to refer to the Ascension, for obvious reasons), and the first option for the Second Reading (from Ephesians 1) are the same in all three Years. …
Sixth Sunday of Easter Mass Readings: Page 266 – 268 Order of Mass: Pages 7– 47 First Reading: even as Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit did amazing things and came upon Cornelius and his companions, final proof that Christianity was for the pagans or Gentiles as well, not just the Jewish people. Psalm: the…
Fifth Sunday of Easter Mass Readings: Page 264 – 266 Order of Mass: Pages 7– 47 First Reading: when Saul returned to Jerusalem after his conversion, unsurprisingly the disciples were afraid of him. But Barnabas shows courage and forgiveness, and enables Paul (as he becomes) to begin preaching the good news of Jesus. Psalm: the…
Fourth Sunday of Easter Mass Readings: Page 261 – 263 Order of Mass: Pages 7– 4 First Reading: Peter (and John) are brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jews’ supreme court, and courageously Peter says that the only name by which we can be saved is the name of Jesus. Psalm: this is the psalm from…
