DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
FRIDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
SIRACH 6:5-17
5 A pleasant voice multiplies friends, and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies. 6 Let those that are at peace with you be many, but let your advisers be one in a thousand. 7 When you gain a friend, gain him through testing, and do not trust him hastily. 8 For there is a friend who is such at his own convenience, but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. 9 And there is a friend who changes into an enemy, and will disclose a quarrel to your disgrace. 10 And there is a friend who is a table companion, but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. 11 In prosperity he will make himself your equal, and be bold with your servants; 12 but if you are brought low he will turn against you, and will hide himself from your presence. 13 Keep yourself far from your enemies, and be on guard toward your friends. 14 A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter: he that has found one has found a treasure. 15 There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence. 16 A faithful friend is an elixir of life; and those who fear the Lord will find him. 17 Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, for as he is, so is his neighbor also.
The Word of the LordRESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 118(119):12, 16, 18, 27, 34-35
Response: Guide me, Lord, in the way of thy commands.
Blessed be thou, O LORD;
teach me thy statutes!
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of thy commands.
I will delight in thy statutes;
I will not forget thy word.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of thy commands.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way 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 way 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 way of thy commands.
Lead me in the path of thy commandments,
for I delight in it.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of thy commands.
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GOSPEL
What God has joined together
MARK 10:1-12
1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again; and again, as his custom was, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" 4 They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." 5 But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, `God made them male and female.' 7 `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Mutual servants, equally serving, by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.
"Where are we to find language adequately to express the happiness of that marriage which the church cements, the oblation confirms, the benediction signs and seals, the angels celebrate, and the Father holds as approved? For all around the earth young people do not rightly and lawfully wed without their parents' consent. What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service? (Ephesians 4:4) They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh. They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests. Truly they are 'two in one flesh' (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Ephesians 5:31). Where the flesh is one, the spirit is one as well. Together they pray, together bow down, together perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually entreating, mutually upholding. In the church of God they hold an equal place. (Romans 12:15; 15:6; Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:12) They stand equally at the banquet of God, equally in crises, equally facing persecutions, and equally in refreshments. Neither hides anything from the other. Neither neglects the other. Neither is troublesome to the other (Philippians 1:27)."
(excerpt from TO HIS WIFE 2.8)
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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.