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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

August 1, 2013



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Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 



Lectionary: 404


Reading 1EX 40:16-21, 34-38

Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.
On the first day of the first month of the second year
the Dwelling was erected.
It was Moses who erected the Dwelling.
Moses built the Tabernacle where the presence of the Lord would dwell.
He placed its pedestals, set up its boards, put in its bars,
and set up its columns.
He spread the tent over the Dwelling
and put the covering on top of the tent,
as the LORD had commanded him.
The tent, as I understand it, is where the Priests would serve the Lord.
He took the commandments and put them in the ark;
he placed poles alongside the ark and set the propitiatory upon it.
He brought the ark into the Dwelling and hung the curtain veil,
thus screening off the ark of the commandments,
as the LORD had commanded him.
Then Moses took the Stone Tables upon which the Commandments were written and put them in the Ark of the Covenant and screened it off behind a veil so that it could not be seen.
Then the cloud covered the meeting tent,
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Then the Shekinah Cloud, the visible presence of the Holy Spirit, came down to indicate that God was present in the Tabernacle.
Moses could not enter the meeting tent,
because the cloud settled down upon it
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
When the Shekinah Cloud was upon the Tabernacle, Moses could not enter the Tent.
Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling,
the children of Israel would set out on their journey.
But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;
only when it lifted did they go forward.
In the daytime the cloud of the LORD was seen over the Dwelling;
whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud
by the whole house of Israel
in all the stages of their journey.
When the Cloud descended upon the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would rest.  But if the Cloud rose, then the people wold move.

Responsorial PsalmPS 84:3, 4, 5-6A AND 8A, 11

R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young–
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
God's dwelling place is our soul, if we keep it pure and holy by acting righteously.  We dwell with the Lord when we keep His Commandments.

GospelMT 13:47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
The Kingdom of God on earth, the Church, is full of righteous and sinful people.  God permits them to dwell together until the Judgment when the sinners will be cast into the Lake of fire and the righteous will go to heaven.

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