DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
SEPTEMBER 24, 2024
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
PROVERBS 21:1-6, 10-13
1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. 3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. 4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but every one who is hasty comes only to want. 6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. 10 The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. 11 When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. 12 The righteous observes the house of the wicked; the wicked are cast down to ruin. 13 He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 118(119):1, 27, 30, 34-35, 44
Response: Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
R. Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
Make me understand the way of thy precepts,
and I will meditate on thy wondrous works.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness,
I set thy ordinances before me.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
Give me understanding, that I may keep thy law
and observe it with my whole heart.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
Lead me in the path of thy commandments,
for I delight in it.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
I will keep thy law continually,
for ever and ever.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the path of thy commands.
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GOSPEL
Hear the word of God and do it
LUKE 8:19-21
19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd. 20 And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." 21 But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Those who listen and obey God's word become true children of God, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"The present lesson teaches us that obedience and listening to God are the causes of every blessing. Some entered and spoke respectfully about Christ's holy mother and his brothers. He answered in these words, 'My mother and my brothers are they who hear the word of God and do it.' Now do not let any one imagine that Christ scorned the honor due to his mother or contemptuously disregarded the love owed to his brothers. He spoke the law by Moses and clearly said, 'Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you' (Deuteronomy 5:16). How, I ask, could he have rejected the love due to brothers, who even commanded us to love not merely our brothers but also those who are enemies to us? He says, 'Love your enemies' (Matthew 5:44)."
"What does Christ want to teach? His object is to exalt highly his love toward those who are willing to bow the neck to his commands. I will explain the way he does this. The greatest honors and the most complete affection are what we all owe to our mothers and brothers. If he says that they who hear his word and do it are his mother and brothers, is it not plain to every one that he bestows on those who follow him a love thorough and worthy of their acceptance? He would make them readily embrace the desire of yielding themselves to his words and of submitting their mind to his yoke, by means of a complete obedience."
(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 42)
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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.