DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
SEPTEMBER 16, 2024
MONDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINTS CORNELIUS, POPE, AND CYPRIAN, BISHOP, MARTYRS
FIRST READING
1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-26, 33 OR (2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-15)
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
The Word of the Lord
_
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 39(40):7-10, 17 OR (PSALMS 126:1-6)
Response: Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire;
but thou hast given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
thou hast not required.
Then I said, “Lo, I come."
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
"In the roll of the book it is written of me;
I delight to do thy will, O my God;
thy law is within my heart.”
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
lo, I have not restrained my lips,
as thou knowest, O LORD.
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
But may all who seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee;
may those who love thy salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
_
GOSPEL
But say the word, and let my servant be healed.
LUKE 7:1-10 OR (JOHN 17:11-19)
1 After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Caper'na-um. 2 Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue."6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes; and to another, `Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it." 9 When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.
The Gospel of the Lord
_
REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The power of Divinity and the grace of humility, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"How great is the sign of divine humility, that the Lord of heaven by no means disdained to visit the centurions servant! Faith is revealed in deeds, but humanity is more active in compassion. Surely he did not act this way because he could not cure in his absence, but in order to give you a form of humility for imitation he taught the need to defer to the small and the great alike. In another place he says to the ruler, 'Go, your son lives' (John 4:50), that you may know both the power of Divinity and the grace of humility. In that case he refused to go to the ruler's son, lest he seem to have had regard for riches. In this case he went himself lest he seem to have despised the humble rank of the centurion's servant. All of us, slave and free, are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11)."
(excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.84)
_
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.