DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JULY 15, 2024

MONDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT BONAVENTURE, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

FIRST READING

ISAIAH 1:10-17 OR (EPHESIANS 3:14-19 / WISDOM 8:2-7, 16-18 / 1 CORINTHIANS 2:6-13)

10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomor'rah! 11 "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow."

The Word of the Lord
_

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 49(50):8-9, 16-17, 21, 23 OR (PSALMS 119:9-14 / PSALMS 16:5-9, 11)

Response: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will accept no bull from your house,
nor he-goat from your folds.

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes,
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you."

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

"These things you have done and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.
He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me;
to him who orders his way aright
I will show the salvation of God!”

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
_

GOSPEL

I have not come to bring peace, but a sword

MATTHEW 10:34--11:1 OR (MATTHEW 23:8-12 / MATTHEW 5:13-19)

34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man's foes will be those of his own household. 37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. 40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41 He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." 11 1 And when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

The Gospel of the Lord
_

REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

How peace requires a sword, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)

"What sort of peace is it that Jesus asks them to pronounce upon entering each house? And what kind of peace is it of which the angels sing, 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace'? And if Jesus came not to bring peace, why did all the prophets publish peace as good news? Because this more than anything is peace: when the disease is removed. This is peace: when the cancer is cut away. Only with such radical surgery is it possible for heaven to be reunited to earth. Only in this way does the physician preserve the healthy tissue of the body. The incurable part must be amputated. Only in this way does the military commander preserve the peace: by cutting off those in rebellion. Thus it was also in the case of the tower of Babel, that their evil peace was ended by their good discord. Peace therefore was accomplished."

(excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 35.1)
_

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.