DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
NOVEMBER 17, 2024
THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
DANIEL 12:1-3
1 "At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.3 But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, And those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 15(16):5, 8-11
Response: Thou are my inheritance, O Lord!
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
thou holdest my lot.
I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
R. Thou are my inheritance, O Lord!
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also dwells secure.
For thou dost not give me up to Sheol,
or let thy godly one see the Pit.
R. Thou are my inheritance, O Lord!
Thou dost show me the path of life;
in thy presence there is fulness of joy,
in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
R. Thou are my inheritance, O Lord!
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SECOND READING
HEBREWS 10:11-14, 18
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,13 then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet.14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The Word of the Lord
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GOSPEL
The Son of man will come with great power and glory
MARK 13:24-32
24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 "But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
My words shall not pass away, by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)
"Nothing of this world is more durable than the heavens and the earth, and nothing in the order of nature passes away more quickly than speech. Words, as long as they are incomplete, are not yet words. Once completed they cease utterly to be. In fact they cannot be perfected except by their own passing away. Therefore he says: 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass.' As if he were openly to say: all that seems to you enduring and unchangeable is not enduring and without change in eternity. And everything of mine that seems to pass away is enduring and without change. My speech, that seems to pass away, utters thoughts (sententiae manentes) which endure forever."
(excerpt from HOMILIES 1)
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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.