DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JUNE 1, 2024
SATURDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT JUSTIN, MARTYR
FIRST READING
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 62(63):2-6 OR (PSALMS 34:2-9)
Response: My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
my soul thirsts for thee;
my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise thee.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
So I will bless thee as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on thy name.
My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat,
and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
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GOSPEL
Who gave you this authority?
MARK 11:27-33 OR (MATTHEW 5:13-19)
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?" 29 Jesus said to them, "I will ask you a question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer me." 31 And they argued with one another, "If we say, `From heaven,' he will say, `Why then did you not believe him?' 32 But shall we say, `From men'?" -- they were afraid of the people, for all held that John was a real prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Fearing the truth, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Fearing a stoning, but fearing more an admission of the truth, they answered the truth with a lie, reminiscent of the Scripture: 'injustice has lied within herself' (Psalm 27:12). For they said, 'We know not.' And because they had shut themselves up against him, by asserting that they did not know what they knew, the Lord did not open up to them because they did not knock. For it has been said, 'Knock and it will be opened to you' (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9). But they not only had not knocked that it might be opened, but by their denial they barricaded the door itself against themselves. And the Lord said to them, 'Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things' (Matthew 21:27; Mark 11:33; Luke 20:7).
(excerpt from TRACTATE ON JOHN 2.9.4)
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
