DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JULY 18, 2024

THURSDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, PRIEST)

FIRST READING

ISAIAH 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 OR (1 JOHN 3:14-18)

7 The way of the righteous is level; thou dost make smooth the path of the righteous. 8 In the path of thy judgments, O LORD, we wait for thee; thy memorial name is the desire of our soul. 9 My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee. For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 12 O LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us, thou hast wrought for us all our works. 16 O LORD, in distress they sought thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. 17 Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs, when she is near her time, so were we because of thee, O LORD; 18 we were with child, we writhed, we have as it were brought forth wind. We have wrought no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 19 Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 101(102):13-21 OR (PSALMS 112:1-9)

Response: From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.

But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever;
thy name endures to all generations.
Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
For thy servants hold her stones dear,
and have pity on her dust.

R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.

The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
For the LORD will build up Zion,
he will appear in his glory;
he will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their supplication.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die.

R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
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GOSPEL

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me

MATTHEW 11:28-30 OR (JOHN 15:9-17)

28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Grace bear us, by an anonymous early author from the Greek church

"'My yoke is easy and my burden light.' ... The prophet says this about the burden of sinners: 'Because my iniquities lie on top of my head, so they have also placed a heavy burden on me' (Psalm 38:4)' ...'Place my yoke upon you, and learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart.' Oh, what a very pleasing weight that strengthens even more those who carry it! For the weight of earthly masters gradually destroys the strength of their servants, but the weight of Christ rather helps the one who bears it, because we do not bear grace; grace bears us. It is not for us to help grace, but rather grace has been given to aid us."

(excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY, the Greek fathers).
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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.