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| First Reading |
| Exodus 24:3-8
Moses went and told the people all the commands of the Lord and
all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice,
'We will observe all the commands that the Lord has decreed.' Moses
put all the commands of the Lord into writing, and early next morning
he built and altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones
for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he directed certain young
Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to the
Lord as communion sacrificed. Half of the blood Moses took up and
put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking
the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and
they said, 'We will observe all that the Lord has decreed; we will
obey.' Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people.
'This' he said 'is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has
made with you, containing all these rules.'
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| Responsorial Psalm |
| Psalm 115:12-13.15-18
| Response: |
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord's name. |
- How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord's name.
- O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
- A thanksgiving sacrifice I make:
I will call on the Lord's name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
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| Second Reading |
| Hebrews 9:11-15
Now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which
were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect
tent, which is better than one made by men's hands because it is
not of this created order; and he has entered the sanctuary once
and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves,
but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption for us. The
blood of goats ad bulls and the ashes of a heifer are sprinkled
on those who have incurred defilement and they restore the holiness
of their outward lives; how much more effectively the blood of
Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through
the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner-self from dead actions
so that we do our service to the living God.
He brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people
who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive
what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that
infringed the earlier covenant.
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| Gospel |
| Mark 14:12-16.22-26
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was
sacrificed, his disciples said to Jesus, 'Where do you want us
to go and make the preparations for you to eat the passover?' So
he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the city
and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him,
and say to the owner of the house which he enters, "The Master
says: Where is my dining room in which I can eat the passover with
my disciples?" He will show you a large upper room furnished
with couches, all prepared. Make the preparations for us there.'
The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything
as he had told them, and prepared the Passover.
And as they were eating he took some bread, and when he had said
the blessing he broke it and gave it to them. 'Take it,' he said
'this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and when he had returned
thanks he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to
them, 'This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to
be poured out for many. I tell you solemnly, I shall not drink
any more wine until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom
of God.'
After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives.
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Back to Scripture Readings
Readings from The Jerusalem Bible © 1966 by Darton
Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday and Company Ltd.
Psalm © The Grail (England) published by HarperCollins.
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