DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JULY 20, 2024

SATURDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT APOLLINARIS, BISHOP AND MARTYR)

FIRST READING

MICAH 2:1-5 OR (EZEKIEL 34:11-16)

1 Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil upon their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. 3 Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, against this family I am devising evil, from which you cannot remove your necks; and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time. 4 In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you, and wail with bitter lamentation, and say, "We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! Among our captors he divides our fields." 5 Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 9(10):1-4, 7-8, 14 OR (PSALMS 23:1-6)

Response: Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

Why dost thou stand afar off, O LORD?
Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?
In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes which they have devised.

For the wicked boasts of the desires of his heart,
and the man greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.
In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the hapless.

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

Thou dost see; yea, thou dost note trouble and vexation,
that thou mayst take it into thy hands;
the hapless commits himself to thee;
thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

GOSPEL

Until Jesus brings justice to victory

MATTHEW 12:14-21 OR (JOHN 10:11-16)

14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him, how to destroy him. 15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all, 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 18 "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any one hear his voice in the streets; 20 he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till he brings justice to victory; 21 and in his name will the Gentiles hope."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The Savior's meekness, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)

"The prophet celebrated in advance both the Savior's meekness right alongside his unspeakable power. Thereby he opened to the Gentiles a great and effective door. Isaiah also foretold the ills that were to overtake the Jews. He foreknew the Son's oneness with the Father: 'Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him; I have put my Spirit upon him' (Isaiah 42:1). For it is not as an adversary that Christ transcends the law, as if he were an enemy of the Lawgiver, but as though he were of one mind with the Lawgiver and held to the very same purposes. Then, proclaiming the Lord's meekness, Isaiah said, 'He shall not cry nor lift up his voice' (Isaiah 42:20). For his desire indeed was to enable healing in their presence. But since they pushed him away, he did not contend any further against their opposition."

(excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 40.2.1)
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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.