DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

OCTOBER 14, 2024

MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT CALLISTUS I, POPE AND MARTYR)

FIRST READING

GALATIANS 4:22-24, 26-27, 31--5:1 OR (1 PETER 5:1-4)

4 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. 24 Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married." 31 So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. 5 1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 112(113):1-7 OR (PSALMS 40:2, 4, 7-11)

Response: Blessed be the name of the Lord for evermore!
Or
R. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD!
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD!
Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and for evermore!

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for evermore!
Or
R. Alleluia.

From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the LORD is to be praised!
The LORD is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for evermore!
Or
R. Alleluia.

Who is like the LORD our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
upon the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for evermore!
Or
R. Alleluia.
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GOSPEL

This is an evil generation; it seeks a sign

LUKE 11:29-32 OR (LUKE 22:24-30)

29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The sign of Jonah, by an anonymous early author from the Greek church

"'What is the sign of Jonah? The stumbling block of the cross. So it is not the disputers of knowledge who will be saved but those who believe true teaching. For the cross of Christ is indeed a stumbling block to those who dispute knowledge but salvation to those who believe. Paul testifies to this: 'But we, for our part, preach the crucified Christ - to the Jews indeed a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God' (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). Why do the Jews seek signs and the Greeks seek wisdom? God pointed to the sign of the stumbling block of the cross to both the Jews and the Greeks. Thus those who wish to find Christ not through faith but through wisdom will perish on the stumbling block of foolishness. Those who wish to know the Son of God not through faith but through a demonstration of signs will remain trapped in their disbelief, falling on the stumbling block of his death. It is no small wonder that the Jews, considering the death of Christ, thought he was merely a man, when even Christians - as they purport to be but really are not - because of his death are reluctant to declare the only begotten, the crucified, as incomparable majesty."

(excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 30, the Greek fathers)
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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.