DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
AUGUST 7, 2024
WEDNESDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT CAJETAN, PRIEST / SAINT SIXTUS II, POPE AND MARTYR, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS)
FIRST READING
JEREMIAH 31:1-7 OR (SIRACH 2:7-11 / WISDOM 3:1-9)
1 "At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." 2 Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3 the LORD appeared to him from afar. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with timbrels, and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards upon the mountains of Sama'ria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of E'phraim: `Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'" 7 For thus says the LORD: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, `The LORD has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.'
The Word of the Lord
_
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
JEREMIAH 31:10-13 OR (PSALMS 112:1-9 / PSALMS 126:1-6)
Response: The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands afar off;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'"
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
_
GOSPEL
Great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire
MATTHEW 15:21-28 OR (LUKE 12:32-34 / MATTHEW 10:28-33)
21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Gospel of the Lord
_
REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The Mother of the Gentiles, by Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century)
"After our Lord departed from the Jews, he came into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. He left the Jews behind and came to the Gentiles. Those whom he had left behind remained in ruin; those to whom he came obtained salvation in their alienation. And a woman came out of that territory and cried, saying to him, 'Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David!' O great mystery! The Lord came out from the Jews, and the woman came out from her Gentile territory. He left the Jews behind, and the woman left behind idolatry and an impious lifestyle. What they had lost, she found. The one whom they had denied in the law, she professed through her faith. This woman is the mother of the Gentiles, and she knew Christ through faith. Thus on behalf of her daughter (the Gentile people) she entreated the Lord. The daughter had been led astray by idolatry and sin and was severely possessed by a demon."
(excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 58)
_
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.