Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (A)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Deuteronomy 7.6-11

Moses said to the people:
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God,
the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession,
above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

The Lord did not set his love on you, nor choose you,
because you were more in number than any people,
for you were the fewest of all peoples,
but because the Lord loves you,
and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers.
The Lord brought you out with a mighty hand,
and redeemed you out of the house of bondage,
from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God,
who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him
and keep his commandments to a thousand generations,
and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them.
He will not be slack to him who hates him; he will repay him to his face.
You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances,
which I command you this day, to do them."

Responsorial – Psalm 103.1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10 Resp. 17

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

Praise The Lord, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Praise The Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

He forgives all your sins;
he heals all your diseases;
he redeems your life from destruction;
he crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our guilt.

R. The Lord’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him.


Reading 2 - 1 John 4.7-16

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;
and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

The one who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.
By this God’s love was revealed in us,
that God has sent his one and only Son into the world
that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Beloved, if God thus loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we remain in him and he in us:
because he has given us of his Spirit.
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
We know and have believed in the love which God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God, and God remains in them.

Gospel – Matthew 11.25-30

At that time, Jesus answered,
“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.

All things have been delivered to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son, except the Father;
nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart,
and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (II)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – 2 Kings 24.8-17

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign;
and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.
His mother’s name was Nehushta
the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that his father had done.

At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city,
while his servants were besieging it;
and Jehoiachin the king of Judah
went out to the king of Babylon,
he, and his mother, and his servants,
and his princes, and his officers:
and the king of Babylon took him
in the eighth year of his reign.
He carried out of there all the treasures of the Lord’s house,
and the treasures of the king’s house,
and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold,
which Solomon king of Israel had made in the Lord’s temple,
as the Lord had said.

He carried away all Jerusalem,
and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor,
ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths;
no one remained, except the poorest people of the land.
He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon;
and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives,
and his officers, and the chief men of the land,
he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
All the men of might, seven thousand,
and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand,
all of them strong and apt for war,
all of them the king of Babylon
brought captive to Babylon.

The king of Babylon made Mattaniah,
Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place,
and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Responsorial – Psalm 79.1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9 Resp. 9

R. For the glory of your name, deliver us O Lord.

God, the nations have come into your inheritance.
They have defiled your holy temple.
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
They have given the dead bodies of your servants
to be food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.

R. For the glory of your name, deliver us O Lord.

Their blood they have shed like water
around Jerusalem.
There was no one to bury them.
We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?

R. For the glory of your name, deliver us O Lord.

Do not hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us.
Let your tender mercies speedily meet us,
for we are in desperate need.

R. For the glory of your name, deliver us O Lord.

Help us, God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name.
Deliver us, and forgive our sins,
for your name’s sake.

R. For the glory of your name, deliver us O Lord.

Gospel – Matthew 7.21-29

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but the doer of the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will tell me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
in your name cast out demons,
and in your name do many mighty works?’
Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you.
Depart from me, you evildoers.’

All, therefore who hear these my words and do them,
is like a wise man, who built his house on the rock.
The rain fell; the floods came; and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it did not fall
for it was founded on the rock.
And all the hearers of these my words,
who do not do them,
is like a foolish man,
who built his house upon the sand:
The rain fell; the floods came;
and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it fell and great was the fall of it.

When Jesus had finished saying these things,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them with authority,
not like the scribes.

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (II)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe,
“I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s house.”
Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
Shaphan the scribe came to the king,
and brought the king word and said,
“Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house,
and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen
who have the oversight of the Lord’s house.”
Shaphan the scribe also told the king, saying,
“Hilkiah the priest has delivered a book to me.”
Shaphan read it before the king.
When the king had heard the words of the book of the law,
he tore his clothes.
The king commanded Hilkiah the priest,
and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah,
and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,
“Go inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people and for all Judah,
concerning the words of this book that is found;
for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us,
because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book,
to do according to all that which is written concerning us.”

The king sent and gathered to him
all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
The king went up to the Lord’s house,
and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him,
and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people both small and great:
and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant
which was found in the Lord’s house.
The king stood by the pillar,
and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord,
and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes,
with all his heart, and all his soul,
to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book:
and all the people joined in the covenant.

Responsorial – Psalm 119.33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40 Resp. 33a

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.
I will keep them to the end.

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law.
Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Direct me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in them.

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Turn my heart toward your statutes,
not toward selfish gain.

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Revive me in your ways.

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Behold, I long for your precepts!
Revive me in your righteousness.

R. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Gospel – Matthew 7.15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly are ravening wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree produces beautiful fruit,
but the rotten tree produces worthless fruit.
A good tree cannot produce worthless fruit,
nor can a rotten tree produce beautiful fruit.
Every tree that does not produce beautiful fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist during the Day

Official Translation

Reading 1 – Isaiah 49.1-6

Listen, islands, to me;
and listen, you far off peoples:
the Lord has called me from the womb;
from the inner place of my mother
has he called me by name:
and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand, he has hidden me:
and he has made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver has he kept me close:
and he said to me,
“You are my servant; Israel,
in whom I will be glorified.”

Though I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength in vain for nothing”,
yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.
Now the Lord,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
says to bring Jacob again to him,
and that Israel be gathered to him.
I am honorable in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength.
Indeed, he says,
“It is too light a thing that
you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the preserved of Israel.
I will also make you a light to the nations,
that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”

Responsorial – Psalm 139.1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15 Resp. 14

R. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Lord, you have searched me, and you know me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.

R. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.

R. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

My soul you know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth.

R. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Reading 2 – Acts 13.22-26

In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David to be their king,
to whom he also testified,
‘I have found David the son of Jesse,
a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
From this man’s seed, according to his promise,
God has brought a Savior, Jesus, to Israel.
Before his coming, John had first preached
the baptism of repentance to Israel.
As John was fulfilling his course, he said,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
But behold, one comes after me
the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

Men. Brothers. Children of Abraham.
And whoever among you fears God:
To you the word of salvation is sent.

Gospel – Luke 1.57-66, 80

Now the time
when Elizabeth would give birth had arrived,
and she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and her relatives heard
that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her,
and they rejoiced with her.
On the eighth day,
they came to circumcise the child;
and they would have called him Zachariah,
after the name of the father.
His mother answered,
“Not so; he will be called John.”
They said to her,
“There is no one among your relatives
who is called by this name.”
They made signs to his father,
what he would have him called.
He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote,
“His name is John.”
They all were amazed.
His mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue freed,
and he spoke, blessing God.
Fear came on all who lived around them,
and all these sayings were talked about
throughout all the hill country of Judea.
All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying,
“What then will this child be?”
The hand of the Lord was with him.

And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit,
and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

June 22, 2014 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Deuteronomy 8.2-3, 14b-16a

Moses said to the people:
"Remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the desert,
that he might humble you, to prove you,
to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna,
which you did not know, nor did your fathers know,
that he might make you know that a human does not live by bread alone,
but a human lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Beware lest you forget the Lord your God,
who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage,
who led you through the great and terrible desert,
with its fiery serpents and scorpions,
and thirsty ground where there was no water,
who brought forth water out of the rock of flint,
who fed you in the desert with manna,
which your fathers did not know."

Responsorial – Psalm 147.12-13, 14-15, 19-20 Resp. 12a

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! or R. Alleluia!

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Praise your God, Zion!
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates.
He has blessed your children within you.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! or R. Alleluia!

He makes peace in your borders.
He fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his commandment to the earth.
His word runs very swiftly.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! or R. Alleluia!

He shows his word to Jacob;
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done this for any other nation.
They do not know his ordinances. Alleluia!

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! or R. Alleluia!


Reading 2 - 1 Corinthians 10.16-17

The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not a communion of the Blood of Christ?
The bread which we break,
is it not a communion of the Body of Christ?
Because there is one bread,
we, who are many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one bread.

Sequence - Lauda Sion

Laud, O Zion, thy salvation,
laud with hymns of exultation
Christ, thy King and Shepherd true:
spend thyself, his honor raising,
who surpasseth all thy praising;
never canst thou reach his due.

Sing today, the mystery showing
of the living, life bestowing
Bread from heaven before thee set;
e'en the same of old provided,
where the Twelve, divinely guided,
at the holy Table met.

Full and clear ring out thy chanting,
joy nor sweetest grace be wanting
to thy heart and soul today;
when we gather up the measure
of that Supper and its treasure,
keeping feast in glad array.

Lo, the new King's Table gracing,
this new Passover of blessing
hath fulfilled the elder rite;
now the new the old effaceth,
truth revealed the shadow chaseth,
day is breaking the night.

What he did at Supper seated,
Christ ordained be repeated,
his memorial ne'er to cease:
and, his word for guidance taking,
bread and wine we hallow, making
thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth to Christians given:
Bread becomes his Flesh from heaven,
Wine becomes his holy Blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Yet by faith, thy sight transcending,
wondrous things are understood.

Yea, beneath these signs are bidden
glorious things to sight forbidden:
look not on the outward sign.
Wine is poured and Bread is broken.
but in either sacred token
Christ is here by power divine.

Whoso of this Food partakes,
does not rend the Lord nor breaks:
Christ is whole to all that taste.

Thousands are, as one, receivers,
one, as thousands of believers,
takes the Food that cannot waste.

Good and evil men are sharing
one repast, a doom preparing
varied as the heart of man;

doom of life or death awarded,
as their days shall be recorded
which from one beginning ran.

When the Sacrament is broken,
doubt not in each severed token,
hallowed by the word once spoken,
resteth all the true content:

nought the precious Gift divides,
breaking but the sign betides,
he himself the same abides,
nothing of his fullness spent.

Hail! Bread of the Angels, broken,
for us pilgrims food, and token
of the promise by Christ spoken,
children's meat, to dogs denied!

Shown in Isaac's dedication,
in the Manna's preparation,
in the Paschal immolation,
in old types pre-signified.

Jesus, Shepherd mild and meek,
shield the poor, support the weak;
help all who Thy pardon sue,
placing all their trust in You:
fill them with Your healing grace!

Source of all we have or know,
feed and lead us here below.
grant that with Your Saints above,
sitting at the feast of love
we may see You face to face. Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel – John 6.51-58

Jesus said to the crowds:
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
Yes, the bread which I will give
Is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews argued with one another, saying,
“How can this one give us his flesh to eat?”
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I tell you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Human
and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.
For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me and I in them.

As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father;
so the one who feeds on me, will also live because of me.
This is the bread which came down from heaven—
not like what our fathers ate and died.
The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Update and Status, Especially for Kindle Subscribers

I have not updated this blog in a while and have been rather intermittent for the past year. I began this blog when I had more free time, and my current pastoral responsibilities must always trump blogging, but I do hope to get back on track now. While this may be disappointing for those who use the website, it is of greatest concern to those who subscribe on their Amazon Kindle. So to clarify a few points:

This blog is always available for free at readings.dailyhomilies.org. I have no interest in charging for the Word of God. Amazon charges a fee to deliver the blog to the Kindle. This fee is mostly kept by Amazon, and I have no control over it. It would be free on Amazon if I could make it so. I also cannot help anyone cancel a subscription, but it is easy to do and Amazon can help if you wish.

Even when I am not able to keep up daily posts, the archives are an important part of the website. My long term goal is to finish all the readings in the various cycles. When this is completed, I will release a complete lectionary as a free Kindle book. In the meantime, most readings are available by looking in the current archives.

The point of this blog has always been strictly literal translations of the readings. This is probably most helpful to those who will preach on them or who want to go deeper into the readings than the official translation allows. For people looking for the readings as they will be read at Mass, perhaps a better option would be "Reading God's Word 2013-2014 - Daily Mass Readings for Year A" by Kathleen Furman. I have not really looked at this myself, but it is well reviewed and only $4.99 for the whole year of readings. Or if you have a smartphone, the Laudate app is free and truly excellent.

The reason why I inconsistently post is because a post is not a simple matter of copying and pasting, but requires significant time spent translating from the Greek originals. When the archives are completely done, the blog will run completely on its own, but I have not had the time to finish, which means I frequently run across a passage I have not translated yet.

I hope that this clarifies the status and purpose of this blog. I apologize to anyone who was expecting or depending on something else. If you would like to email me, my address is fatheradam@rejoice.cc

In Christ,
Father Adam McMillan.