Daily Mass and Readings

1"And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you. 2You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 6Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, `Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' 7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?

2He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart; 3who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; 4in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5who does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

17Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 21Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

1Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; 4and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" 6And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' 8You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men." 14And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him." 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."