DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
SEPTEMBER 23, 2024
MONDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT PIUS OF PIETRELCINA, PRIEST
FIRST READING
PROVERBS 3:27-34 OR (GALATIANS 2:19-20)
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it" -- when you have it with you. 29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you. 30 Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm. 31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways; 32 for the perverse man is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence. 33 The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the abode of the righteous. 34 Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he shows favor.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 14(15):2-5 OR (PSALMS 128:1-5)
Response: The just one shall live on thy holy mountain, O Lord.
He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right,
and speaks truth from his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue.
R. The just one shall live on thy holy mountain, O Lord.
And does no evil to his friend,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
in whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
but who honors those who fear the LORD.
R. The just one shall live on thy holy mountain, O Lord.
Who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who does not put out his money at interest,
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
R. The just one shall live on thy holy mountain, O Lord.
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GOSPEL
Every secret shall come to light
LUKE 8:16-18 OR (MATTHEW 16:24-27)
16 "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. 18 Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The Word of God is like a lamp to guide us, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)
"Scripture does not say this about a tangible lamp but about a comprehensible one. One does not 'light' the lamp and conceal it 'with a vessel' or put it 'under a bed, but on the lamp stand' within himself. The vessels of the house are the powers of the soul. The bed is the body. 'Those who go in' are those who hear the teacher... He calls the holy church a 'lamp stand.' By its proclamation, the Word of God gives light to all who are in this world and illuminates those in the house with the rays of the truth, filling the minds of all with divine knowledge.
(excerpt from FRAGMENTS ON LUKE 120, 122)
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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.