DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JULY 23, 2024
TUESDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN, RELIGIOUS)
FIRST READING
MICAH 7:14-15, 18-20 OR (GALATIANS 2:19-20)
14 Shepherd thy people with thy staff, the flock of thy inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. 15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them marvelous things 18 Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger for ever because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion upon us, he will tread our iniquities under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 84(85):2-8 OR (PSALMS 34:2-11)
Response: Lord, show us thy steadfast mercy and love.
LORD, thou wast favorable to thy land;
thou didst restore the fortunes of Jacob.
Thou didst forgive the iniquity of thy people;
thou didst pardon all their sin.
Thou didst withdraw all thy wrath;
thou didst turn from thy hot anger.
R. Lord, show us thy steadfast mercy and love.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away thy indignation toward us!
Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?
Wilt thou prolong thy anger to all generations?
R. Lord, show us thy steadfast mercy and love.
Wilt thou not revive us again,
that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Show us thy steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us thy salvation.
R. Lord, show us thy steadfast mercy and love.
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GOSPEL
Who are my brothers and sisters?
MATTHEW 12:46-50 OR (JOHN 15:1-8)
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 And someone said to him: "Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking you. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
My mother through faith, by by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)
"If someone can become the brother of the Lord by coming to faith, we must ask how one can become also his mother. We must realize that the one who is Christ's brother and sister by believing becomes his mother by preaching. It is as though one brings forth the Lord and infuses him in the hearts of one's listeners. And that person becomes his mother if through one's voice the love of the Lord is generated in the mind of his neighbor."
(excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 3.2)
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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.