August 9, 2012
We hope that today is a good day.
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Bible story based on the calendar of the Catholic Church.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/calendar.php
Most of these contents are things of The World English Bible.
http://ebible.org/web/
We hope that everyone in the peace of the Lord.
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+ Saints: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
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+ First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
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+ Psalm: Psalms 51:10-13, 16-17
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Don't throw me from your presence,
and don't take your holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.
16 For you don't delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.
You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
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+ Gospel: Matthew 16:13-23
13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
14 They said, "Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 I also tell you that you are Peter,* and on this rock † I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades‡ will not prevail against it.
19 I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven."
20 Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22 Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you."
23 But he turned, and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men."
*16:18: Peter's name, Petros in Greek, is the word for a specific rock or stone.
†16:18: Greek, petra, a rock mass or bedrock.
‡16:18: or, Hell
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+ Today's Reading: Joel 3:9-21
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
"Prepare for war!
Stir up the mighty men.
Let all the warriors draw near.
Let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'
11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves together."
Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.
12 "Let the nations arouse themselves,
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle;
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine press is full,
the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great."
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 Yahweh will roar from Zion,
and thunder from Jerusalem;
and the heavens and the earth will shake;
but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people,
and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
17 "So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be holy,
and no strangers will pass through her any more.
18 It will happen in that day,
that the mountains will drop down sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters,
and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh's house,
and will water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will be a desolation,
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the children of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will cleanse their blood,
that I have not cleansed:
for Yahweh dwells in Zion."
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