DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

FIRST READING

1 CORINTHIANS 7:25-31

25 Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present distress it is well for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. 28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a girl marries she does not sin. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 44(45):11-12, 14-17

Response: Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear;
forget your people and your father's house;
and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your LORD, bow to him;
with all kinds of wealth.

R. Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;
in many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train.

R. Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
Instead of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.

R. Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.
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GOSPEL

Blessed are you poor - yours is the kingdom of God

LUKE 6:20-26

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." 21 "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied." "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh." 22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets." 24 "But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation." 25 "Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger." "Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." 26 "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Jesus, though rich, became poor for us, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"'Blessed,' it says, 'are the poor.' Not all the poor are blessed, for poverty is neutral. The poor can be either good or evil, unless, perhaps, the blessed pauper is to be understood as he whom the prophet described, saying, 'A righteous poor man is better than a rich liar' (Proverbs 19:22). Blessed is the poor man who cried and whom the Lord heard (Psalm 34:6). Blessed is the man poor in offense. Blessed is the man poor in vices. Blessed is the poor man in whom the prince of this world (John 14:30) finds nothing. Blessed is the poor man who is like that poor Man who, although he was rich, became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9). Matthew fully revealed this when he said, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' (Matthew 5:3). One poor in spirit is not puffed up, is not exalted in the mind of his own flesh. This beatitude is first, when I have laid aside every sin, and I have taken off all malice, and I am content with simplicity, destitute of evils. All that remains is that I regulate my conduct. For what good does it do me to lack worldly goods, unless I am meek and gentle?"

(excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.53-54)
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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.