DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JANUARY 22, 2025

WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN)

FIRST READING

HEBREWS 7:1-3, 15-17 OR (ISAIAH 49:1-6)

7 For this Melchiz′edek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest for ever. 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchiz′edek, 16 who has become a priest, not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him, “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiz′edek.”

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 110:1-4 OR (PSALMS 8:4-9)

Response: You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
till I make your enemies your footstool.”

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your foes!

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day you lead your host
upon the holy mountains.
From the womb of the morning
like dew your youth will come to you.

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest for ever
after the order of Melchiz′edek.”

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
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SECOND READING (DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN)

EPHESIANS 3:14-21

14 For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named: 15 all paternity... Or, the whole family. God is the Father, both of angels and men; whosoever besides is named father, is so named with subordination to him. 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man: 17 that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that, being rooted and founded in charity, 18 you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 to know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge: that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us: 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

The Word of the Lord
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GOSPEL

Is it lawful... to save life or to kill?

MARK 3:1-6 OR (LUKE 1:39-56)

1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come here." 4 And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The tender compassion of the Lord, by John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D.

"Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, 'Come here.' Then he challenged the Pharisees as to whether it would be lawful to do good on the sabbath. Note the tender compassion of the Lord when he deliberately brought the man with the withered hand right into their presence (Luke 6:8). He hoped that the mere sight of the misfortune might soften them, that they might become a little less spiteful by seeing the affliction, and perhaps out of sorrow mend their own ways. But they remained callous and unfeeling. They preferred to do harm to the name of Christ than to see this poor man made whole. They betrayed their wickedness not only by their hostility to Christ, but also by their doing so with such contentiousness that they treated with disdain his mercies to others."

(excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 40.1)
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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.