DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JULY 17, 2024
WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
ISAIAH 10:5-7, 13-16
5 Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger the club in their hands is my fury! 6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 13 For he says By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. 14 My hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened its mouth, or chirped. 15 Shall the axe vaunt itself over the one who wields it or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it? As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood! 16 Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 93(94):5-10, 14-15
Response: The Lord will not abandon his people.
They crush thy people, O LORD,
and afflict thy heritage.
They slay the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
And they say, “The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
Understand, O dullest of the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise?
He who teaches men knowledge.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
For the LORD will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
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GOSPEL
Heavenly things revealed to infants
MATTHEW 11:25-27
25 At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Revealed to babes, by Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century)
"And he revealed these things to children. To which children? Not those who are children in age but to those who are children in respect to sin and wickedness. To them Jesus revealed how to seek the blessings of paradise and the things to come in the kingdom of heaven, because thus it was well pleasing before God that 'they should come from the east and the west and that they should lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but that the sons of this worldly kingdom should be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-12).'"
(excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 26)
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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.