DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JULY 29, 2024
MONDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINTS MARTHA, MARY, AND LAZARUS
FIRST READING
JEREMIAH 13:1-11 OR (1 JOHN 4:7-16)
1 Thus said the LORD to me, "Go and buy a linen waistcloth, and put it on your loins, and do not dip it in water." 2 So I bought a waistcloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins. 3 And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, 4 "Take the waistcloth which you have bought, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphra'tes, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock." 5 So I went, and hid it by the Euphra'tes, as the LORD commanded me. 6 And after many days the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphra'tes, and take from there the waistcloth which I commanded you to hide there." 7 Then I went to the Euphra'tes, and dug, and I took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistcloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9 "Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this waistcloth, which is good for nothing. 11 For as the waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen."
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
DEUTERONOMY 32:18-21 OR (PSALMS 34:2-11)
Response: You forgot the God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
“The LORD saw it, and spurned them,
because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
R. You forgot the God who gave you birth.
And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them,
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
children in whom is no faithfulness.
R. You forgot the God who gave you birth.
They have stirred me to jealousy with what is no god;
they have provoked me with their idols.
So I will stir them to jealousy with those who are no people;
I will provoke them with a foolish nation.
R. You forgot the God who gave you birth.
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GOSPEL
Martha said to Jesus, "I know he will rise again"
JOHN 11:19-27 OR (LUKE 10:38-42)
19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The voice of life and joy that awakens the dead, by Athanasius of Alexandria (295-373 AD)
"I am the voice of life that wakens the dead. I am the good odor that takes away the foul odor. I am the voice of joy that takes away sorrow and grief. I am the comfort of those who are in grief. Those who belong to me are given joy by me. I am the joy of the whole world. I gladden all my friends and rejoice with them. I am the bread of life" (John 6:35).
(excerpt from HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS)
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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.