DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
AUGUST 9, 2024
FRIDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS, VIRGIN AND MARTYR)
FIRST READING
NAHUM 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 OR (HOSEA 2:16-17, 21-22)
2 1 The shatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength. 3 The shield of his mighty men is red, his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots flash like flame when mustered in array; the chargers prance. 3 1 Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and booty no end to the plunder! 2 The crack of whip, and rumble of wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! 3 Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end they stumble over the bodies! 6 I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt, and make you a gazingstock. 7 And all who look on you will shrink from you and say, Wasted is Nin'eveh; who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for her?
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
DEUTERONOMY 32:35-36, 39, 41 OR (PSALMS 45:11-12, 14-17)
Response: It is I who deal death and give life.
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone,
and there is none remaining, bond or free.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“‘See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand."'
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
"'If I whet my glittering sword,
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries,
and will requite those who hate me.'"
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
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GOSPEL
Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it
MATTHEW 16:24-28 OR (MATTHEW 25:1-13)
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 27 For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Walk as Christ has walked, by Caesarius of Arles (470-543 AD)
"When the Lord tells us in the Gospel that anyone who wants to be his follower must renounce himself, the injunction seems harsh; we think he is imposing a burden on us. But an order is no burden when it is given by one who helps in carrying it out. To what place are we to follow Christ if not where he has already gone? We know that he has risen and ascended into heaven; there, then, we must follow him. There is no cause for despair - by ourselves we can do nothing, but we have Christs promise... One who claims to abide in Christ ought to walk as he walked. Would you follow Christ? Then be humble as he was humble. Do not scorn his lowliness if you want to reach his exaltation. Human sin made the road rough. Christs resurrection leveled it. By passing over it himself, he transformed the narrowest of tracks into a royal highway. Two feet are needed to run along this highway; they are humility and charity. Everyone wants to get to the top - well, the first step to take is humility. Why take strides that are too big for you - do you want to fall instead of going up? Begin with the first step, humility, and you will already be climbing."
(excerpt from SERMONS 159, 1.4.6)
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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.