DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(FEAST OF THE SACRED STIGMATA OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI)

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT ROBERT BELLARMINE, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH / SAINT HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH)

FIRST READING

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-14; 27-31 OR (WISDOM 7:7-10, 15-16 / SONG OF SONGS 8:6-7 / GALATIANS 6:14-18)

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 99(100):1-5 OR (PSALMS 19:8-11 / PSALMS 45:11-12, 14-17 / GALATIANS 2:16, 20. PHILIPPIANS 1:20-21)

Response: We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Know that the LORD is God!
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!

R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
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GOSPEL

The Lord had compassion on her

LUKE 7:11-17 OR (MATTHEW 7:21-29 / MATTHEW 25:1-13 / LUKE 9:23-26)

11 Soon afterward he went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." 15 And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" 17 And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The dead man who meets the Life and the Resurrection, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"The dead man was being buried, and many friends were conducting him to his tomb. Christ, the life and resurrection, meets him there. He is the Destroyer of death and of corruption. He is the One in whom we live and move and are (Acts 17:28). He is who has restored the nature of man to that which it originally was and has set free our death-fraught flesh from the bonds of death. He had mercy upon the woman, and that her tears might be stopped, he commanded saying, 'Weep not.' Immediately the cause of her weeping was done away."

(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 36)
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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.