Daily Mass Readings - Monday, February 29, 2016

First Reading
2 Kings 5:1-15

1Na'aman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little maid from the land of Israel, and she waited on Na'aman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Sama'ria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4So Na'aman went in and told his lord, "Thus and so spoke the maiden from the land of Israel." 5And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten festal garments. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Na'aman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me." 8But when Eli'sha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you rent your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel." 9So Na'aman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the door of Eli'sha's house. 10And Eli'sha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." 11But Na'aman was angry, and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. 12Are not Aba'na and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, `Wash, and be clean'?" 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him; and he said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant."

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms 42:2-3; 43:3-4

421As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God.2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 433Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling! 4Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise thee with the lyre, O God, my God.

Gospel

Luke 4:24-30

24And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26and Eli'jah was sent to none of them but only to Zar'ephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli'sha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Na'aman the Syrian." 28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.29And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30But passing through the midst of them he went away.

THE VOICE

Gospel

Luke 4:24-30

4And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26and Eli'jah was sent to none of them but only to Zar'ephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 

( Even though Jesus accepted that no prophet is acceptable in his own country, He did not stop from doing good. Jesus gave examples how GOD  sent prophets to save His own. )

28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.29And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30But passing through the midst of them he went away.

( Sometimes  the truth is bitter for some to accept and they revolt against Gods teachings , but no harm comes to people of God as His hand is over them )

Sunday Mass Readings. Sunday, February 28, 2016

First Reading
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15

1Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." 4When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I." 5Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7Then the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, 8and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites. 13Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'" 15God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 103:1-4, 6-8, 11

1Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,4who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 6The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. 7He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12

1I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same supernatural food 4and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did. 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Gospel 

Luke 13:1-9

1There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? 3I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo'am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." 6And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7And he said to the vinedresser, `Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?' 8And he answered him, `Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. 9And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"
THE VOICE

First Reading

Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15

1Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; 

( The family lived together and there was submission to the elders )

5Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 

( We need to understand the Holiness of the place we come to meet Our Lord )

7Then the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, 8and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, 

( The Lord our God knows our sufferings meted out by our earthly leaders and sends His appointed and anointed one to deliver them )

14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'" 15God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

( God is God , and He shall be known by that name throughout generations )